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Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, today (Wednesday 15 November) visited County Louth, to officially open the newly refurbished playground in Carlingford.
The newly kitted out Carlingford playground has seen its capacity enhanced. It can cater for more children, making it a huge attraction for families.
This playground, along with the completed works at the Carlingford Heritage Centre, will attract more visitors to the village and provide an economic boost.
This is the Minister’s second visit to the area in recent times and speaking in Carlingford she said:
“While today is a day of celebration, I want to begin by recognising just how difficult and challenging the last few weeks have been for this community.
“Last Friday week I walked through the centre of the town, I met the business people and I visited the homeowners in the nearby estates who were absolutely devastated.
“And it really would bring tears to your eyes to see the impact this flooding had on their lives and their livelihoods.
“I was also joined as well that day by a number of officials from my Department of Social Protection, who were able to provide immediate support to households affected.
“In fact, in a number of cases, we wrote cheques on the spot – simply because the people of Carlingford needed that support straight away.
“So really the message today is the same message of two weeks ago – We are here to help and here to support your community in whatever way we can.”
Speaking about the new playground the Minister said:
“It’s lovely to be back here today through for very different reasons, as we officially open your new playground facility.
“I am delighted that my department was able to support this project with funding of almost €94,000 under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
“You used that funding to redesign and install a new facilities new equipment. And the great thing is this investment has allowed you to significantly increase the capacity of the playground so that more and more children and their families can benefit.”
The Minister also visited Dundalk to open the new artificial sports surface at the Redeemer Family Resource Centre. The outdoor pitch was installed on a piece of land that has been unused for a number of years.
It will provide local groups and sporting organisations with a facility where outdoor sports can be played all year round.
Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It offers a blueprint for a thriving and inclusive rural Irelands and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.
The Town and Village Scheme is one of a series of measures designed to rejuvenate rural towns and villages throughout Ireland.
The Scheme supports projects that cover a wide range of activities, including upgrading public outdoor spaces, improving community amenities, supporting projects bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into use and the creation of digital hubs for remote working.
Since the introduction of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme in 2016 over €156 million has been approved for more than 1,700 projects across the country.
Louth has been awarded just over €4.6 million of this funding which includes just over €313,000 being allocated to Carlingford and has supported four projects.