• New Fund brings unprecedented investment to benefit community centres in every county 

• Grants of up to €25,000 for the upgrade of Community Centres, Parish Halls, GAA Clubhouses, Youth Facilities and Men’s Sheds 

• Minister Humphreys: Community Centres are the heart of towns, villages and parishes across the country

Media Release: Wednesday, 12^th October 2022

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced funding of over €12.5 million for the upgrade and development of almost 600 Community Centres nationwide.

The new Community Centre Investment Fund (CCIF) will support groups in every county to carry out refurbishments and improvements of their local community facility.

Grants of up to €25,000 will be provided to almost 600 groups in both rural and urban communities.

The funding will see improvements to community centres, GAA clubs, parish halls, youth centres, men’s sheds and facilities used by our elderly.

The Community Centre Investment Fund is a new scheme introduced by Minister Humphreys and represents the largest single investment in community centres in decades. Today’s announcement of Category 1 projects will be followed by further funding announcements for larger scale projects in the coming weeks.

Among the capital works that will be carried out include:

• Upgrades to Heating Systems / Energy Retrofitting
• Installation of new windows / doors
• Works to upgrade and improve kitchen facilities
• Upgrades to lighting systems and stage areas
• Works to upgrade toilet facilities
• Works to improve disability access
• Improvements to assist in providing additional or better services to the community such as Meals for the Elderly & youth facilities
• Works to develop Community Centres as Social Hubs through the development of Community Cinemas, Youth Hubs and Community Libraries
• Essential maintenance works, roof repairs, etc.
• Works to address safety concerns, including as a result of fire safety audits

Minister Humphreys announced the funding during a visit to the Fettercairn Community and Youth Centre in Tallaght, which received Category 1 Funding.

Making the announcement, Minister Humphreys said:

“The local Community Centre is at the heart of our towns, villages and parishes all across this country. They come in many different shapes and sizes and are a place for people of all ages to meet up and socialise with friends, old and new.  I want to support these great local facilities and that’s why I launched the new Community Centre Investment Fund earlier this year.  The level of interest has been unprecedented under any scheme previously ran by the Department of Rural and Community Development.  I am delighted today to announce over €12.5 million in funding for almost 600 projects nationwide. This funding will support Community Centres, Parish Halls, GAA Clubhouses, Youth Facilities, Men’s Sheds and much more. I want to congratulate all of the successful groups who are receiving funding, which I know will benefit local communities for years to come. This particular strand of funding focused on small scale grants of up to €25,000. I am pleased to confirm that I will be announcing grants for larger scale projects later this year.”

Also welcoming the funding, Minister of State Joe O’Brien TD said:

“I spend a significant amount of my time out and about visiting community groups throughout Ireland and I see first-hand the importance of community centres – that shared community space where people can gather to support each other, to work, to socialise, and to help to continue to develop their local community. There has been huge interest in the fund which has received a large number of applications and the increased funding we have secured in the Budget will ensure that the new fund has the biggest impact possible in local communities nationwide.”

A full list of the successful projects under Category 1 of the Community Centres Investment Fund is available here.

Please find Meath grant allocations below:

• Ballivor Community Council Meath €18,387.00
• Coiste na nÓg Halla Bhaile Ghib Meath €22,177.00
• Drumconrath Meath Hill Parish Meath €25,000.00
• Drumree GAA Meath €21,496.90
• Kells Family Resource Centre CLG Meath €13,842.12
• Longwood Community Group CLG Meath €25,000.00
• Rathmolyon Hurling Club Meath €25,000.00
• RST Community CLG Meath €16,780.98
• Simonstown Gaels Gfc Management CLG Meath €25,000.00
• St. Olivers Community Centre Company Limited By
  Guarantee Meath €24,532.00
• Tierworker Community Group Meath €25,000.00
• Wilkinstown Community Centre LTD Meath €25,000.00

Notes to editors:

Funding will be available under 3 Categories, with grants up to €300,000 available:

• Category 1: Small scale projects/improvements to facilities up to €25,000

• Category 2: Larger scale projects €25,001 to €100,000
• Category 3: Major projects €100,001 to €300,000

Funding is available for capital works such as: –

• works to improve communal facilities such as kitchen and toilet facilities
• energy retrofitting, new windows / doors / heating systems
• upgrades to lighting systems and stage areas
• works to address safety concerns, including as a result of fire safety audits
• works to improve disability access
• improvements to assist in providing additional or better services to the community such as meals for the elderly and youth facilities
• works to develop Community Centres as Social Hubs through the development of Community Cinemas, Youth Hubs and Community Libraries
• essential maintenance works, repairs to roof, and so on

The fund closed to applications on the 14th of July. The appraisal process for Categories 2 and 3 is currently ongoing.

Our Rural Future

Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.