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Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys today (Friday 2 June) visited Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, to officially open the Ridge Business, Enterprise and Technology Centre.
Monaghan County Council was awarded funding of €3.4 million under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund to develop the Centre.
The Ridge Business, Enterprise and Technology Centre will provide high quality office space and remote working facilities for new and existing businesses.
The building is located in the centre of the town and will increase the potential for Castleblayney to act as a centre for business creation, supporting existing businesses and the creation of new job opportunities.
The investment comes as part of the government’s commitment to the revitalisation of rural towns under its Rural Development Policy, Our Rural Future and the Town Centre First policy which aim to bring more people, business and investment opportunities to Irish towns.
Speaking at the Centre today in Castleblayney, Minister Humphreys said:
“This is a fantastic project that will bring about real economic and social benefits to Castleblayney and indeed the entire North East Region.
“We’re hearing so much these days about how competitive our Labour market is – and we obviously saw this week unemployment fall to a new low of 3.8 per cent.
“And so employers are very much realising the importance of incentivising and retaining their workers by giving them remote working options.
“You see it in so many job notices these days – the option of remote or hybrid working.
“And that’s why facilities like the Ridge Centre are so important as we continue on what really has become a remote working revolution.”
The Minister also visited Lough Muckno to open the Onomy Walk and Exercise Trail and an outdoor educational space on Point Black Island.
Then in Carrickmacross the Minister opened Carrickmacross Dog Park & Tullynaskeagh Bio Diversity Park and Walking Loop.
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 Rural Regeneration and Development Fund provides funding for the development and construction of capital projects in towns and villages and rural areas across Ireland. In total the Fund has now provided over €397 million for 215 projects across Ireland, worth a total of €544 million.
In relation to projects in County Monaghan, the Fund has provided €23 million for 13 projects worth a total of €33.9 million.
Town Centre First’ contains 33 unique actions which will give our towns the tools and resources they need to become more viable and attractive places in which to live, work, visit and run a business.
It is underpinned by multi-billion euro investment spread across major government schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), Croí Conaithe (Towns) Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
Town Regeneration Officers in all relevant Local Authority areas are being funded by DRCD to drive forward Town Centre First on a local level.
The policy also contains a range of actions designed to achieve key objectives such as social and economic revival in towns, the provision of housing, as well as addressing challenges like vacancy and derelict buildings.
The actions also support the protection of our environment, as well as the heritage and culture of our towns.
Last year Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors, the government’s new National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023-2027 was published.
It is a stakeholder-led strategy that will bring about cohesive and sustainable development of the outdoor recreation sector and ensure a coordinated national approach to outdoor recreation.
The Strategy aims to increase the number of people active in the outdoors, especially young people and under-represented groups and also how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly.
Better planning and development of outdoor recreation infrastructure will be embedded through the strategy implementation and this will lead to enhanced protection of the environment and will be in keeping with best practice management of landscape and habitats.
Supporting our trails, our cycleways, our bogs, forests, beaches, lakes, coastal and mountain amenities, is a key action in the strategy and these will continue to be supported through funding programmes such as ORIS and CLÁR.