Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys has today launched a €15 million fund for outdoor adventure activities that will boost rural tourism.
Funding towards the Outdoor Recreation and Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) will support outdoor adventure projects across Ireland – with a particular focus on developing adventure tourism in rural Ireland.
Focus of the scheme – which is funded in partnership with Fáilte Ireland – is to support activities such as hiking, mountaineering, kayaking, swimming and cycling.
Minister Humphreys added that projects are designed to benefit the health and wellbeing of local communities, and stated further:
“The facilities and amenities funded under this scheme represent a tremendous long-term asset for rural communities and visitors alike, and are clear examples of the impact that Our Rural Future is having across Ireland.”
Over the past two years, Minister Humphreys said, the importance of time spent outdoors has become more obvious and activities proved especially popular with families.
Natural amenities including mountains, lakes, beaches, bogs, walkways, greenways and blueways will see development under the scheme, affecting new and existing outdoor recreational infrastructure.
Since the establishment of the ORIS in 2016, more than 1,200 projects across Ireland received funding of €87 million in total.
Funding towards projects in 2022 will range from €30,000 for small-scale projects and up to €500,000 for large-scale ones.
In the 2022 Budget, Minister Humphreys increased funding for the scheme, which builds on the Our Rural Future commitment to invest in infrastructure for growth of outdoor adventure tourism.
Scheme applicants are urged to be bold and ambitious with their proposals to enable further development of adventure tourism, which, the minister said, is to the benefit of citizens.