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Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today outlined a package of over €150 million designed to transform rural towns, villages and communities throughout 2022.
Hosting a webinar entitled ‘Government Supports for Thriving Rural Areas and Vibrant Communities’, Minister Humphreys detailed the various funding streams within her Department that will revitalise town centres, combat dereliction, promote remote working and enhance our communities.
The event was attended by over 300 stakeholders such as community groups, town teams, development associations and local chambers.
New Community Centre Fund
During the webinar, Minister Humphreys announced the introduction of a new Community Centres Investment Fund 2022.
This new capital Fund will invest €15 million in the upgrade and refurbishment of community buildings across the country so that thousands of people of all ages can benefit. Under the Fund groups and organisations based in both rural and urban communities can apply for grants ranging from €10,000 to €300,000.
Application forms will be available online in the coming weeks.
Announcing the new initiative, Minister Humphreys said:
“If the Pandemic taught us one thing, it’s that we all have discovered the true meaning of ‘community’. That’s why I am delighted today to announce the new ‘Community Centres Investment Fund 2022. I am making available €15 million which will support the refurbishment and upgrade of community buildings across the country. Does your local Community Centre or Parish Hall need an upgrade or facelift? Does your local community need financial support to carry out fire safety or other necessary repair works? Then this Fund is designed to support you. The new Fund will provide grants for small and large-scale projects and help us to provide focal points for communities as they come back together. I will publish details on how local community groups can apply for this funding later this month”
Focus for 2022
During the webinar, The Minister and her officials outlined the details of other investment stream, which are underpinned by ‘Our Rural Future’ and the ‘Town Centre First’ policies.
There was a detailed discussion, too on the areas the Department will be prioritising investment, such as:
The Minister spoke about Government’s vision for rural areas and communities across the country:
“It is now almost a full year since I launched Our Rural Future, the Government’s policy for rural development, which sets out the most ambitious set of objectives for rural development in the history of the state. I also recently had the pleasure of launching the Town Centre First Policy, which will tackle vacancy and combat dereliction. Together, these two strategies and the funding that under-pins them, will revitalise town centres, keep jobs in rural areas, support adventure tourism and the green economy. Above all, they will make our towns and villages better places to live, work, and raise a family. Today I have also published the calendar for all our funding schemes for 2022 so that community groups and local authorities can plan ahead and use all of these funding streams to deliver maximum in our rural towns, villages and parishes.”
There was significant investment in rural communities last year with €106 million in rural regeneration funding approved, €70 million provided under the transitional LEADER programme and €73 million allocated to the first ever Rural Active Travel Programme.
This level of investment along with remote working and broadband initiatives demonstrates the Government’s commitment to rural Ireland.
Minister Joe O’Brien said:
“The capital funding programmes outlined today, including the newly announced Community Centres Investment Fund, are complemented by a suite of ongoing and planned current funded programmes which play a large part in supporting those living in communities, and in many cases ensuring that it is possible for people to engage with these capital supports. There is little point in having great infrastructure if there are not the people using those facilities to deliver the many community & voluntary programmes and schemes across the country. That is why I am committed to supporting the Community and Voluntary sector to maximise its impact in communities throughout Ireland.”
Speaking about her Department’s investment package for this year, Minister Humphreys said:
“Today I have provided a schedule for all my Department’s funding programmes for the year. This includes key dates for applications and guidance on the types of projects that will receive support. My message to everyone today is that the funding is available - so identify good projects, make your applications strong and get them into my Department. In 2022, we want to continue to invest in top-class projects up and down the country to support thriving rural areas and create vibrant communities.”
Our Rural Future
Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.
Town Centre First
Town Centre First is a major new policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres.
Town Centre First contains 33 unique actions which will give our towns the tools and resources they need to become more viable and attractive places in which to live, work, visit and run a business.
The policy is underpinned by multi-billion euro investment spread across major Government schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), Croí Conaithe (Towns) Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
BCPs
The roll-out of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) to rural towns and villages is a key commitment under Our Rural Future. BCPs are publicly accessible sites in areas that do not have adequate broadband services.
They are located in the likes of community centres, libraries, parish halls, and sports clubs. BCPs provide onsite use of high-speed broadband by the public and support a range of digitally enabled services, such as remote work and study.
Connected Hubs Network
One of the commitments provided in the five-year policy is to establish a comprehensive and integrated national network of 400 Remote Working Hubs over the lifetime of the policy (to include a central booking platform for Connected Hub user’s).
The National Connected Hubs network was launched in May 2021 and initially had some 60 hubs onboarded onto the connected hubs.ie platform. This has grown substantially and there are now over 200 hubs live on the connect hubs.ie platform.
Connected Hubs Mobile App
The launch of the connected hubs mobile app will allow users to find their nearest hub facility and easily book a desk space using their mobile device. The Connected Hubs mobile app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android.
Revised National Development Plan
The revised National Development Plan setting aside a total of €850 million for capital investment in rural development projects to 2025.
Boyle Regeneration
This significant town regeneration project will undertake a series of linked projects, including the refurbishment and conversion of the old Royal Hotel into an Enterprise Centre, exhibition space, information point and coffee dock and the creation of a new riverside promenade, which will link the town centre to key tourism attractions using the river, e.g. King House, Boyle Abbey.