Press release
Our Rural Future: Minister Humphreys opens newly refurbished Community Hall during visit to Westmeath
From Department of Rural and Community Development
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Rural and Community Development
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, today (Tuesday 30 May) officially opened the newly refurbished Mount Temple Community Hall in County Westmeath.
This refurbished hall in Mount Temple Co Westmeath will host numerous community events.
It will also allow organisations and community groups in the area such as social services, active retirement groups, cultural and sporting organisations and many more to develop and prosper.
The project, which received over €217,000 in funding through the LEADER programme, will be used by all local organisations, and bring people together for numerous activities and for celebrating special events.
Officially opening this extension today, Minister Humphreys said:
“This facility will make such a huge difference to the lives of the people in Mount Temple and its surrounding area.
“It will be a focal point for the people of Mount Temple to meet and carry out many community activities that before the refurbishment were not possible.
“I’m pleased too that the Hall will lend itself to carrying out a wide variety of activities which will engage the whole community.
“This really is a project that will make such a difference to the people of Mount Temple and surrounding areas for generations to come.
“It is great to see facilities such as this one being delivered which help to rejuvenate rural areas and enhance the quality of life within these areas.
“I want to pay tribute to all the Mount Temple Community Hall committee members and their supporters for successfully delivering this magnificent facility and I’m delighted my department was able to support them with an investment of over €217,000 under LEADER.”
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.
LEADER, a key intervention of Our Rural Future, is a rural development programme co-funded by the EU, which operates a locally-led, bottom-up, approach to meeting the needs of rural communities and businesses. The programme supports private enterprises and community groups in rural areas.
The programme is based on a community-led approach to rural development and plays an important role in supporting communities and enterprises in progressing job creation, social inclusion and environmental projects at local level.
Funding is currently delivered by 29 Local Action Groups (LAGs) in 28 sub-regional areas. These groups are partnerships of public and private entities from a defined geographical area. LAGs are responsible for local projects in accordance with the Local Development Strategies they develop themselves.
€250 million has been made available for LEADER for the period 2021 to 2027. This is comprised of €70 million for the transitional period 2021 to 2022, which came into effect on 1 April 2021 and an additional €180 million from 2023 to 2027.