Minister Calleary announces over €3 million investment in Coillte recreational sites for 2026
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From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 20 April 2026
- Last updated on: 20 April 2026
- €3.13m for new trail infrastructure and ongoing maintenance at 224 sites
- Final year of 5 year strategic partnership that has seen over €16 million invested in Coillte recreation sites
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, has today (20th April 2026) announced details of €3.13m funding that the department will provide in 2026 as part of its’ strategic partnership with Coillte.
Announcing the funding, Minister Calleary said:
“2026 marks the final year of my department’s current 5-year strategic partnership with Coillte. Over the last 5 years, funding of over €16m has been provided to support and maintain Coillte’s wonderful recreation forests and amenities around the country. This is in addition to investment in these sites through programmes such as the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme.
“As well as being used to maintain and develop Coillte’s trail network and recreation amenities, this funding has also supported Coillte’s engagement with local communities and recreation groups right across the country.
“These forests are great assets that visitors and local communities enjoy on a daily basis and they are a hugely important element of the outdoor recreation sector in Ireland.
“Our investment in 2026 includes €2m to facilitate ongoing maintenance and associated supports at over 200 recreational sites across the country. In addition, €1.1m is being provided to support the development of new recreation amenities and upgrades of existing facilities at 20 sites nationwide.”
Examples of some of the new recreation amenities being funded today include:
- Woodpark, Co Clare: Car park improvement works and the upgrade of 1.4 km of trail. €90,000.
- Curragh Chase Forest Park, Co Limerick: Renewal of Forest Park entrance road. €280,000.
- Belleek Woods, Co Mayo: First installation of play features as part of a new woodland play trail. €105,000.
- Sopwell, Co Tipperary: Renewal of bog bridge. €60,000.
- Monivea Forest, Co Galway: Car park improvement works and trail upgrade. €76,000.
- Dún an Rí Forest Park, Co Cavan: Modernisation of toilet facilities. €82,000.
The full list of sites being maintained and the locations of new works is available here
The Minister continued:
“We cannot overstate the positive impact recreation in the outdoors has on our physical and mental wellbeing. Our partnership with Coillte is one of the most important and I look forward to working with the organisation in the coming months to develop a new strategic partnership from 2027.
“Alongside strategic partnerships such as this, my Department is also providing direct investment through the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS).”
Imelda Hurley, Coillte CEO said:
“We continue to see strong growth in visitor numbers year-on-year across our most popular recreation forests, demonstrating just how valued these amenity forests are by communities throughout Ireland. This €3.13 million investment from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (DRCDG), is critical to ensuring we can continue to develop and enhance these important recreation sites nationwide, and in doing so support rural economic development, and provide high-quality, accessible spaces for people to enjoy.
“The DRCDG is a key, long-term strategic partner of Coillte and I’d like to thank Minister Dara Calleary and his officials at the Department for their ongoing support. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the DRCDG to develop the next strategic programme from 2027 onwards and to supporting even more people in enjoying the many benefits of our forests nationwide.”
Notes
Embracing Ireland’s Outdoor - 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 supporting the sustainable development of outdoor recreation in Ireland.
The Department of Rural & Community Development & 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, including the 2025 report, are available on the Department’s website at: Schemes to support Outdoor Recreation Facilities.