Historic Towns grants will help fund facelifts for Carrick-on-Suir town centre buildings

Property owners of buildings on Carrick-on-Suir's Main Street and Bridge Street area are to be offered a €130,000 funding injection to upgrade the appearance of their buildings this summer.

Carrick-on-Suir is one of just seven towns in the country to be allocated grant aid under the 2018 Historic Towns Initiative. 

The money will assist property owners to paint and clean their buildings, maintain and repair gutters, sash windows, chimneys, signage, roof slates and other minor structural improvement works.

 An estimated 40 properties in Carrick-on-Suir town centre qualify for the funding. 

Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District Administrator Martin Nolan informed the monthly meeting of the District's elected members that the project was worth €168,000 for Carrick-on-Suir. The Heritage Council is providing €110,000, Tipperary Co. Council is allocating a further €20,000 and the remaining €28,000 is to be put up by the property owners. 

The application for the funding was prepared by Carrick-on-Suir's Tourism & Economic Development Committee and submitted through the Council's Heritage Office. 

A photographic record of the renovations of the historic buildings in the town centre will be collected and exhibited during Heritage Week in August. 

Mr Nolan pointed out that the refurbishments carried out by property owners will be supervised by a heritage archaeologist. 

He said the project will be taking off within the next few weeks and property owners will be contacted about it. "It's a very welcome project for the town," he said. 

Carrick Municipal District Director Pat Slattery said Carrick-on-Suir was the only town in the county to secure this funding and it may be a once off opportunity for town centre property owners to secure some funding to spruce up their premises. 

 He said   property owners could avail of up to an 80%  grant for  small projects to upgrade the appearance of their  premises. 

"It's not a huge amount of funding but for somebody who is going to do a small amount of work it represents up to an 80% grant." 

"This €168,000 could make a huge difference to the centre of the town and I would encourage those with properties to engage and take up this funding," he added. 

Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District Chairman Cllr John Fahey and Carrick-on-Suir's two county councillors David Dunne (SF) and Kieran Bourke (FF) welcomed the funding. 

Cllr Bourke paid tribute to Co. Council staff and Carrick-on-Suir Tourism & Economic Development Committee on their work in securing this money.  

He said the Tourism & Economic Development Committee members were "unsung heroes" who got no credit for the trojan work they did for the town all year round.