Minister Calleary announces €4 million investment at Coillte recreational sites in 2025
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From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 1 August 2025
- Last updated on: 5 August 2025
- €2.6 million for new trail infrastructure and ongoing maintenance at 169 sites
- €1.4 million to repair damage caused to up to 200 recreational sites following recent storms
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary, has today (Friday, 1 August) announced details of €4 million funding the department will provide in 2025 as part of its’ strategic partnership with Coillte. In addition to supporting the development of new infrastructure projects and the maintenance of existing trails on Coillte lands, this year an additional €1.4 million is being provided towards the ongoing cost of repairing storm damaged trails.
Announcing the funding, Minister Calleary said:
“My department’s strategic partnership with Coillte is a hugely important one for the outdoor recreation sector in Ireland. It is essential to ensuring that Coillte sites are in a position to facilitate millions of visitors each year with high quality trails and facilities. Through our current partnership with Coillte, we are providing up to €15 million over 5 years to maintain and develop Coillte’s trail network and recreation amenities around the country. This funding is also supporting Coillte’s engagement with local communities and recreation groups right across the country.
“Our investment in 2025 includes €2 million to support ongoing maintenance of over 160 recreational sites across the country and €600,000 to support the development of new recreation amenities.”
Examples of some of the new recreation amenities being funded today include:
- Glantenassig, Co Kerry: Final Phase of Car Park and entrance road Improvement Works – €120,000
- Courtown, Co Wexford: Repair and Renew of Spike bridge – €35,000
- Belleek, Co Mayo: Belleek Woods Pond improvement works projects – €50,000
- Ravensdale, Co Louth: Replacement of foot bridge – €70,000
- Woodstock, Co Kilkenny: Access Road Repair and redress – €55,000
The Minister continued:
“This year has presented an additional challenge to making these facilities available to the public in the aftermath of storm Eowyn. I know Coillte staff have been working tirelessly over the last few months to repair and reopen their recreational forests and to allow communities back in to enjoy these woods.
“There were over 100 sites closed as a result of storm Eowyn and I’m pleased to note that work has completed to allow 83 of these sites reopen. The remaining sites are expected to reopen before the end of the year. In recognition of the significant level of resources needed to repair the storm damage, I am delighted to be able to provide, on a once off basis, additional funding of €1.4 million towards repair works on up to 200 sites that suffered storm damage in 2025.”
Imelda Hurley, Coillte CEO said:
“We are delighted to welcome this €4 million investment from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (DRCDG), which will significantly enhance forest trails and outdoor recreation areas across the country. This support comes at a critical time, following the unprecedented Storm Éowyn, that caused widespread damage across our forest estate. Our teams have been working tirelessly to restore access, often in extremely challenging conditions. Their phenomenal efforts have ensured that the majority of our recreational forests have now reopened, enabling communities and visitors to once again enjoy the natural beauty of our forests.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Dara Calleary and his team for their ongoing support. The DRCDG is a key, long-term strategic partner of Coillte and this funding will not only accelerate outdoor recreational recovery but also help to future-proof these vital amenities for generations to come. We look forward to continuing work in partnership with the DRCDG to enhance our outdoor recreation areas and to welcoming even more visitors to our estate across the country.”
Minister Calleary also today launched the report of the 2024 programme of investment which sets out the projects and outcomes from the investment provided to Coillte in 2024.
Notes
Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors - National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023 – 2027
Today’s announcement is a key contributor to the implementation of Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors, the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023 - 2027 which is set to strengthen and support the sustainable development of outdoor recreation in the coming years.
The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht has a strategic partnership in place with Coillte via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU agrees to provide €15 million for the period 2022-2026 to Coillte to enhance recreational facilities on Coillte land and to support increased tourism and economic activity in rural areas.
This builds on the previous 5-year agreement which provided funding of €11 million over the period 2017-2021.
Coillte
Coillte, Ireland’s semi-state forestry company, is responsible for managing 440,000 hectares of primarily forested land making it Ireland’s largest forest manager. Coillte aims to balance and deliver the multiple benefits of its forests for climate, nature, wood and people. Coillte is the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Ireland with 260 forest recreational areas, twelve forest parks and six mountain bike centres nationwide.
Details of previous funding are provided in the annual reports produced by Coillte which are available on the department’s website at: Schemes to support Outdoor Recreation Facilities.