Funding of over €20 million has been announced for a wide range of regeneration projects which will benefit rural towns and villages across Ireland.

The funding will support 82 projects spanning the entirety of Ireland. Among these successful initiatives are the regeneration of abandoned structures, the establishment of public plazas and farmers' markets in town centres and the improvement of Town Parks.

The funding is being granted through the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, with a specific focus on revitalising rural town centres, aligning closely with the core objectives of the Our Rural Future and Town Centre First Policies.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, said:

"I am delighted to approve funding of over €20m under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. The benefit of this funding will be felt the length and breadth of the country. These projects have come from local communities themselves and I am delighted to see such a diverse range of projects ranging from new Town Parks and Playgrounds to the development of Farmers Markets and Outdoor Dining Spaces.

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"I am also pleased to see a number of successful projects which will see vacant and derelict buildings brought back into use and repurposed with Community Halls and Youth Centres being provided. This is Our Rural Future in action, delivering at local level and making a real difference in our rural towns and villages.

"There are more people living in rural Ireland than ever before. There are more people working in rural Ireland than ever before and there is more investment going into rural Ireland than ever before. These projects are all about making our rural towns and villages great places to live, work and raise a family. I want to thank the local communities who brought forward these proposals and I look forward to seeing work commence on many of these exciting projects in the near future."

Examples of some of the successful projects being funded today include:

•Cape Clear, Co. Cork (€228,355): Development of Cape Clear’s first children’s playground in the North Harbour.

•Ballyroan, Co Laois (€500,000): Redevelopment of the Old Boys School to include a children’s playground, MUGA, car park facility, public lighting and landscaping.

•Carrick-On-Shannon, Co Leitrim (€495,602): Bringing a vacant/derelict building back into use as a community/youth arts facility serving communities of all ages.

•Enfield, Co Meath (€500,000): The redevelopment and refurbishment of a vacant building to bring it back into use as a much needed community facility.

•Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon (€500,000): Creation of an inclusive and accessible town park, offering outdoor recreation in the centre of Ballaghaderreen.

•Culfadda, Co. Sligo (€250,000): Refurbishment of a vacant, village centre pub into a community social enterprise

•Lacken, Co. Wicklow (€250,000): Renovation of the old schoolhouse, built in 1869, into a community heritage centre and cafe.

Since being established in 2016, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme has approved over €177 million for almost 1,800 projects across the country.