Communities across Donegal are being encouraged to apply for funding to regenerate towns and villages.
The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, today announced a €4.5 million package.
As part of a suite of measures, a new Town Team Support Fund will be established to build and develop a network of Town Teams nationwide.
Under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, up to €50,000 will be invested in supporting the development of projects designed to breathe new life into rural communities. And additional funding will be provided for projects submitted by counties in the North West – recognising the specific challenges facing the region.
Furthermore, towns will also be provided with up to €30,000 in funding to develop their own Town Centre First (TCF) Plans.
The new measures announced today follow on from the launch of the Government’s first ever Town Centre First Policy in 2022.
This has seen the development of specific Town Centre First Plans in 2026 towns nationwide, including Milford in north Donegal.
The new package of supports will support the following measures:
- Town Team Support Fund: Funding of up to €10,000 each for three towns in each eligible local authority area to support the establishment and/or development of town teams where they are not already well established.
- Town Centre First Plan: Funding of €30,000 in each eligible local authority area to support the development of a TCF plan in a rural town.
- Project Development Measure: This measure will assist local authorities to contribute to a pipeline of significant, well developed projects by providing funding of €50,000 each to support two projects with an additional third €50,000 application available for the counties in the North West Region. This support will be delivered under the umbrella of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
These supports will specifically target rural towns with a population of under 10,000 people.
Detail of the Town Centre First Suite of Supports initiative can be found here
