A €16 million fund to support outdoor activities has been launched by Minister for Rural and Community Development (DRCD), Heather Humphreys.
The 2023 Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) is aimed at supporting “hundreds of outdoor recreation projects across the country” and developing natural amenities such as mountains; lakes; rivers; beaches; blueways; bogs; forest walks; and uplands.
Minister Humphreys said: “To date, the scheme has provided funding of over €106 million for more than 1,500 projects nationwide and today’s announcement will build further on that.”
Outdoor activities
The scheme, which saw its funding increased by €1 million this year, will place a particular focus on developing amenities for adventure tourism in rural Ireland such as walking; hiking; cycling; swimming; kayaking; sailing; paragliding; and kite-surfing.
Additional project applications will be allowed for counties with inhabited off-shore islands to “enhance their tourism potential”.
The scheme is administered at a local level by local authorities and local development companies and according to DRCD it will prioritise projects which have “evidence” of strong community engagement.
The minister added that the benefits of this scheme “will make a real difference” in rural communities across Ireland.
“They hugely benefit the health and well-being of people of all ages and are so important in terms of attracting visitors to our rural towns and villages,” Minister Humphreys said.
“When I launched ‘Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors’, I said I wanted to transform the outdoor recreation sector in Ireland. Today’s announcement is putting that commitment into action.
“Earlier this year, I also announced an expansion of the Walks Scheme to 150 trails. And just this week, I launched a new partnership with Bord na Móna, designed to develop recreation activities on the country’s boglands.
“The funding that I am announcing today really will deliver tremendous long-term assets for rural communities and is a clear demonstration of the huge impact that ‘Our Rural Future’ is having in every county in Ireland.”
The department said that the announcement is a “key strand” to the implementation of Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors, the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023-2027 which is “set to shape” the future of outdoor recreation over the next five years.