A total of 176 applications have been received by the Heritage Council for the 2024 Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme.
The 2024 scheme received an increased budget of €1.5 million by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), with grants ranging from €4,000 to €30,000.
The grant will cover up to 75% of the cost of conservation work to traditional farm buildings, including roofs, walls, structural repairs, windows, and doors.
The scheme is also available for other related farm structures, including historic yard surfaces, walls, gate pillars and gates.
Traditional farm buildings scheme
The key conservation principle of minimum intervention, carrying out a repair to fix what is wrong but not setting out to do too much work applies under the scheme.
The Heritage Council said that restoration works are very unlikely to be supported with grant aid. It is expected that 70-80 projects will be supported this year.
The council said it implemented several changes this year to assist applicants to submit a complete application by including numerous prompts to upload specific photographs, a map, and quotations.
“Prior to this year, a large volume of applicants submitted incomplete applications and couldn’t progress [pass] the screening stage of the assessment process,” the council said.
Launching the 2024 scheme, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue said he looks forward to seeing further completed projects “enhancing our landscape”.
In securing the funding, the minister said he reconfirmed the government’s “ongoing commitment” to supporting conservation through the sustainable use of resources and materials.