Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys has announced €810,000 in funding to support 25 projects under the 2021 CLÁR programme.
The funding will support local groups in developing community and sensory gardens, outdoor spaces and allotments.
The funding is expected to help communities with the likes of raised flower beds; wildflower gardens; sensory planting; polytunnels; outdoor equipment; picnic tables; and shelters.
So far this year, over €5.7 million has been allocated to projects under CLÁR across the country.
Announcing the funding, Minister Humphreys said that the projects receiving funding “will help to channel the real sense of pride that people in rural Ireland have in their localities and their environment”.
“This funding will lead to the creation of community spaces where people can come together and meet their families and friends,” the minister said.
“The initiative is also key in realising our desire to build an even more environmentally responsible society.”
The CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale infrastructural projects in rural areas that have suffered significant levels of population decline.
Reopened in 2016, CLÁR aims to support sustainable development in identified areas by attracting people to live and work there. The funding works in conjunction with local funding and on the basis of locally identified priorities.
Today’s announcement is in addition to funding of over €4.2 million for 104 projects which the minister announced on August 30, under Measures 1 and 2 of CLÁR and over €747,000 for 14 projects under Measure 3(b), announced on September 2.