Tipperary funding boost with extra €1.9m for Kickham Barracks and new sports hub in Clonmel

 Tipperary County Council is expected to receive an extra €1.9 million for the Kickham Barracks and sports hub projects in Clonmel later next month. 

  The council received €2,897,000 from the first round of the Urban Regeneration and Development fund (URDF) last November. 

  Minister Eoghan Murphy  is now expected to make an announcement on the second round  of national funding in April but www.tipperarylive.ie  understands that approval is expected to be given to increase the total funding for the Clonmel project to almost €5 million.

Fine Gael election candidate Garret Ahearn says he has been in constant contact with the Taoiseach and minister Murphy regarding the two projects.

“ I am very hopeful we will be successful when the announcement is made next month”, he said this week.

  The two main projects are first the transformation of Kickham Barracks from a military barracks site to a civic, cultural and educational centre and second the development of a regional sports hub on the existing grounds of LIT.  

These are projects which have planning permission approved and are ready to go.  

Mr Ahearn said the news last November of Government funding was extremely welcomed and if Clonmel is successful again with additional funding it will be a huge win for the town.

Proposals for the Kickham Barracks site include a new pedestrian plaza, central square, new streets, public car parks and development of additional access points which will encourage movement through and within the site and critically integration with the town centre. 

 The regenerated Kickham Barracks will have in excess of 1,000 people on the site which will enliven the site, introduce third level education into the town centre, offer new opportunities to business and retail and open a former enclosed and largely inaccessible site to the public, generating an urban regeneration site of significant scale.

The existing LIT campus on the Frank Drohan Road will be developed as a regional sports hub providing shared facilities for clubs, schools and will address a deficit in the town.

The regional sports hub will provide Clonmel with a competitive advantage in developing the town as a destination and venue for regional and national events, helping to grow, retain and attach families and investment to the area.  

The link between the sports hub and Kickham Barracks is a key part of this vision as LIT currently occupies the site and the delivery of one is dependent upon the delivery of the other.