Minister Heather Humphreys has announced public funding for a number of new remote working hubs around Ireland.
The Minister for Rural and Community Development is providing the funds under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
"Many of the successful projects I am announcing today will see vacant and derelict town centre buildings such as old banks, garda stations and convents transformed into community, cultural and arts spaces," said the minister.
"There is also a strong focus on remote working projects in this round of funding and I am pleased to see that a number of counties have set out ambitious marketing plans aimed at attracting remote workers to relocate."
Among the projects in line to receive taxpayer funding are:
In Association with
• Piltown Remote Working Hub (€500,000): This Co. Kilkenny project will repurpose the former Garda Station in Piltown as a remote working hub.
• Ballyduff Upper, Co Waterford (€250,000): This project will bring a vacant derelict storehouse located in the village centre back to use as a multi-purpose space, incorporating a shop, café, remote working/video-conferencing facilities, youth hub and gym facility.
• Doon, Co Limerick (€250,000): The plan here is develop a dilapidated convent building into a community services and e-Hub facility.
• Urlingford, Co Kilkenny (€250,000): Development of a remote working hub in a building that used to be a branh premises for Bank of Ireland.
• Kilglass, Co Sligo (€500,000): This grant-aided scheme envisages development of a ‘modern fit-for-purpose community facility’ that will include multi-purpose spaces, meeting rooms and remote working facilities
• Killeshin, Co.Laois (€500,000): The village can look forward to a new digital hub and workspace to facilitate remote working.
Minister Humphreys said she has substantially increased the size of the grants available under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme this year.
"In the coming weeks, I will be announcing a further call for applications under the scheme and I am asking local authorities and communities to come forward with more ambitious plans for their areas," she added.
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) is funded under Project Ireland 2040 as part of ‘Our Rural Future’. Since the introduction of the scheme in 2016, almost €94m has been approved for c.1,300 projects across the country.
