Seven of Carlow’s Town & Villages are to benefit from an investment of €447,000 as a result of an application from Carlow County Council. Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, has released a list of 170 towns and villages across Ireland who will receive a share of the €10m fund which includes 7 projects for County Carlow with a grant totally €380,000 with matching funding by Carlow County Council and the Community Groups.
The projects include:
- Borris – €47,600 – Improve playground surface, development of pathways, tourism board, signage, interactive guide, health check, installation of defibrillator, community website etc.
- Hacketstown – €54,450 – Initial work for key footpath for village access, development of interactive tourism maps, community painting, village health check, defibrillator, community website etc.
- Leighlinbridge – €38,250 – Completion of standing stone, interactive map, upgrade of playground, upgrade of footpaths, village health check, community website, business supports.
- Myshall – €34,000 – Tourism brochures, village paint scheme, upgrade parking at community center, village health check, village website, business supports
- Rathvilly – €35,700 – Tourism signage, purchase of equipment for community development of public areas, paint scheme, Christmas lights, village health check, defibrillator, community website, business supports.
- Tullow – €85,000 – Additional playground equipment, community website, tourism maps, signage, tarmac, footpath, paint scheme, improvements to external appearance of Bridge House, health check.
- Muine Bheag – €85,000 – Upgrade of public areas at River Barrow, upgrade of sports grounds, paint scheme, tourism maps, signage, tarmac, footpath, paint scheme, health check.
Speaking about the announcement Cllr. John Murphy Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council said “We in Carlow County Council are delighted with this allocation which supports the development of rural communities across County Carlow with projects that were designed in partnership between Carlow County Council and the local communities”., Cllr Murphy continued to say “It’s our understanding that this process will be continued in future years and we look forward to putting in place a framework to ensure the continued success of our community partnerships which are designs for social, economic and cultural benefit.
Welcoming the projects, Deputy Chief Executive of Carlow County Council Dan McInerney said “This funding has provided a catalyst to enshrine the principles of Putting People First and Better Local Government by the delivery of projects from a bottom up consultation process which aimed to provide output designed solutions for our Rural Communities taking into account the expertize of our team in Carlow County Council”, McInerney continued to say “we look forward to working with the communities in the delivery of these projects over the coming months”.