My colleague, Minister Joe O'Brien, has this morning announced a combined €1.85 million in funding that’s set to deliver a major enhancement of community services in Carlow and Kilkenny under the Community Recognition Fund.
The Community Recognition Fund is a €50 million fund that aims to support the development of community infrastructure, in recognition of the many communities across the country who have welcomed arrivals from Ukraine and other countries. With Carlow receiving €900,000 and Kilkenny receiving €948,063, both the Local Authorities and successful applicants based in each county can now undertake an extensive programme of works to develop and improve community infrastructure and facilities.
The funding announced this morning for Carlow and Kilkenny will go a long way to enhancing local amenities and community services in both counties. The scale of the funding awarded is a testament to the work that’s already underway at a grassroots level in our communities to welcome our new communities, and with this extra boost of funding from government, these local community groups, schools and sports clubs can enhance and expand the breadth of services they’re providing to the local community.
What we're seeing funded across Carlow and Kilkenny today is a broad range of really tangible and impactful projects.
This funding will allow the local authorities to carry out improvement works on community buildings and local amenities so that they can be enjoyed by more people and become central to the integration and inclusion efforts already underway in our communities. It’s also going to see improvements to our parks; provide picnic areas and playgrounds; green the public realm; and make our community spaces more inclusive through the use of multi-lingual signage.
At the same time, individual organisations who are doing such tremendous work in our communities will be funded to enhance or refurbish their facilities, and things like the mobile studio for CRKC community radio; the pop-up café for Kilkenny Home Rule Club; and the community bus for Ossory Youth – these are all things that will have a real impact on how everyone in the community can enjoy and interact with these services.