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10 Dec 2025
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10 Dec 2025
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Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD
The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced an investment of over €30 million, which will deliver 12 new community centres nationwide.
It’s the first time in the history of the State that a dedicated fund has been set up to deliver new-build community centres in Rural Ireland.
The Minister made the announcement while visiting Newcastle in Galway, which after today’s announcement, is to receive over €4.3 million to build a brand new community centre.
The successful community centre projects, announced today, will receive capital grants of between €1 million and €6 million to build multi-functional centres in areas that currently lack community facilities.
The Community Centres Investment Fund – was launched in March 2023 to provide investment for new and ambitious community projects in our towns and villages.
After providing funding of €45.8m to over 860 projects for refurbishments, Minister Humphreys decided to put a renewed focus on supporting communities that have no community centre at all.
The projects being funded under the announcement are:
Making the announcement, Minister Humphreys said: "Today, we are investing over €30 million in 12 new build facilities – this will be transformational for our rural towns and villages.
"Our community centres bring people of all ages together, whether it be for sporting, educational or social occasions.
"They are vital for engaging with those who may find themselves marginalised and they give everyone in the community a great sense of belonging."
These projects are all on brown or green field sites and have all the necessary planning and consents secured so they are already at an advanced stage and ready to commence following a tender process.
This Fund targets areas without an appropriate facility to meet their community’s needs. The centres range in size from single storey to two-storey buildings and will be located in rural and urban settings across nine counties.
The minister concluded: "When I launched this fund last year with a €20m allocation, I expected to approve 5 or 6 projects. Taking account of the quality of the applications and the identified needs, I am today approving funding for 12 of the applications received with funding of over €30m.
"This funding will assist community groups striving to build their own community centre to service local needs and the level of interest has shown that these centres, when complete, will be the heart of many a community."
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