Press Release for Immediate Release – 19th April 2022
Call for community and business groups to submit projects under Our Rural Future Schemes
Carlow County Council has today (19th April 2022) launched a call for community and business groups to submit expressions of interest for projects under our Rural Future.
Announcing the call, Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council, Cllr. Fintan Phelan said “Over the past number of years millions of euro of investment for a variety of projects across the County from the Our Rural Future Schemes has been attracted to County Carlow and as part of this call we want to understand the level of ambition and vision in terms of projects in community groups so that we as a Council can support this in a structured way”. The Cathaoirleach continued to say “An example of our Rural Future Schemes is the Town & Village Renewal Scheme which has attracted €4.2 million in investment since its establishment in 2016”
The Our Rural Future Fund provides investment to support suitable projects in towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000, and outlying areas, which will deliver on the National Strategic Objective of Strengthened Rural Economies and Communities and achieve sustainable economic and social development in these areas
Explaining the benefits of the expression of interest call the Cathaoirleach “In Carlow County Council our Community & Amenity Team & Local Enterprise Office team support these schemes but we know from experience projects require a significant amount of help and guidance in order to be successful under these schemes so therefore we are providing this opportunity in order to signpost and support community and business groups in the project development process”.
Funds included in this call are Town and Village Renewal Schemes , Dormant Accounts Fund Social Enterprise - Capital Supports , Rural Regeneration & Development Fund (Category A & B ) , Community Centres Investment Fund & Empowering Communities Fund.
Speaking about the project development process , Kieran Comerford , Head of Economic Development & Enterprise in Carlow County Council said “the Our Rural Future is a competitive process and its important that we as a County develop good projects which require funding to establish but that also have a sustainability plan in terms of ongoing operation”. Comerford continued to say “projects prior to submission require a significant amount of pre-development and consideration and this call is designed so we can establish the level of ambition and scale of projects out there but also provide guidance on the pathways for the various funds that may be available”.
Speaking about the role of the Local Authority in the funds , Fiona O’Neill , Senior Executive Officer in Community & Amenity said “As a Local Authority, Carlow County Council plays an active leadership role in the accessing of funding via the Our Rural Future Fund. This includes the co-ordination of project applications for the Local Authority , working with key stakeholders to develop projects suitable for the funds and also supporting communities in their direct applications to the fund”. Fiona continued to say “as part of this call we are hosting an information session on Thursday 28th April 2022 @ 7.00pm via zoom in order to give an outline of the schemes and also advise communities on the project development phases”. O’Neill concluded by saying “We look forward to working with our business and community groups in order to realise the next round of projects under these schemes”. To register for the information session log onto Our Rural Future – Community & Business Group Briefing for 2022 Projects - Local Enterprise Office - Carlow or call 059-9129783
Project Expression of Interest Link: https://submit.link/P2
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For further information contact Kieran Comerford on 086-8252037 or e-mail kcomerford@carlowcoco.ie
