Ministers Calleary opens the newly extended Jim Lynch Community Building in Letterkenny on 25th September 2025
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From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 25 September 2025
- Last updated on: 25 September 2025
- Funding of €300,000 was provided under the Community Centre Investment Fund to Letterkenny Community Centre to fund the extension to this building.
On a visit to Letterkenny, today, (Thursday, 25th September 2025) the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, officially opened the newly extended and refurbished Jim Lynch Community Building.
Opening the Jim Lynch Community Building, Minister Calleary said:
“I am delighted to see the great work completed through the €300,000 in funding that was provided by my Department through the 2022 Community Centre Investment Fund towards the extension of this community facility, and I would like to express my thanks to everyone who has made this possible.
“The Community Centre Investment fund is there to provide unity and resilience by supporting communities to enhance and refurbish their community facilities, to act as a go to place for meetings, for social events and for the wider community to engage in a range of social, sporting and community services.”
The Community Centre Investment Fund was introduced in 2022. Since its establishment, the fund has provided approximately €110 million for the enhancement and refurbishment of existing community centres and the construction of new centres in locations that were not adequately serviced.
The Programme for Government makes a firm commitment to ensure the Community Centre Investment Fund becomes a permanent rolling fund to upgrade, refurbish and build local community centres.
Under the Community Centre Investment Fund 2022, over 55 centres in Donegal were approved for funding worth over €2.9 million. Over €1.6 million was approved for over 40 centres in Donegal under Community Centre Investment Fund 2024, bringing the total funding made available fo Donegal to over €4.6 million.
Minister Calleary said:
“The refurbishment works completed here in Letterkenny will allow additional space to be available for community groups, health groups and education groups. The new changing rooms will benefit local clubs and offer better planning for managing events.
“The Programme for Government has made a firm commitment to ensure the Community Centre Investment Fund becomes a permanent rolling fund to upgrade, refurbish and build local community centres and I look forward, with my Government colleagues to realising this and to seeing the approved projects come to fruition in the coming years.”
Notes
- The Community Centres Investment Fund (CCIF) was first launched in April 2022 to provide funding for the improvement and refurbishment of existing community centres in both urban and rural areas.
- The first iteration of the fund in 2022 provided supports of between €10,000 and €300,000 under three categories. Overall, €45 million was provided to 860 projects. Under CCIF 22 Donegal was allocated over €2.9 million to support the refurbishment and upgrade to 56 community centres.
- In 2023, the focus of CCIF moved to new build community centres, with funding of €30 million allocated to 12 new community centres in April 2024.
- A further round of CCIF was launched in 2024 to again support the refurbishment of existing facilities. There were 1,060 applications to the CCIF 2024 for refurbishments to existing centres.
- 405 applications have been approved for funding of over €7.8 million under category 1 of the 2024 scheme (i.e. projects with funding of up to €25,000).
- 369 applications were approved on 11th March for funding of almost €26.1 million under category 2 of the 2024 scheme (i.e. projects with funding of up to €100,000).
- Under CCIF 2024, Donegal was allocated over €1.6 million to support the refurbishment of 41 community centres.
- Since its establishment in 2022, the Community Centre Investment Fund has provided some €110 million for the enhancement and refurbishment of existing community centres and the construction of new centres in locations that were not adequately serviced.
- The Programme for Government makes a firm commitment to ensure the Community Centre Investment Fund becomes a permanent rolling fund to upgrade, refurbish and build local community centres.
- A decision in relation to the timing of further iterations and the measures to be included will be made in the context of the management of ongoing commitments under the scheme and the annual budgetary process.