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Shannon, Clarecastle, Kilkee and Scariff are to benefit from a €10 million town and village renewal scheme.
One hundred and seventy two towns across Ireland are to receive funding as part of €10 million being rolled out as part of the 2016 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. A total of €380,000 has been assigned County Clare, with the four chosen areas receiving €95,000 each.
€95,000 has been provided to deliver and implement an element of the Shannon Town Green Plan, Clarecastle has received the same amount to improve its streetscape. In Kilkee the money will go towards providing for public art at the Percy French Green aswell as landscaping and public art at the Carrigaholt roundabout. The public realm will be rebalanced in Scariff while accessibility and safety will improved.
Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen spoke of what the money will be used for. “The funding awarded to towns and villages in Clare is being used for a wide variety of projects, identified by Clare County Council, in conjunction with local community groups and businesses in Clare. These include improving playgrounds and footpaths, tourism amenities, public art pieces and a wide range of works to improve the streetscape and public realm of towns and villages nationwide, to help make towns and villages in Clare more attractive and more sustainable places in which to live and work.
“We are determined to get this funding out to rural Clare as quickly as possible. Now that the projects have been approved, work can get underway on improving Clare towns and villages. Our towns and villages are the heart of our rural communities, but many of them are still recovering from the economic downturn. The Town and Village Renewal Scheme is designed to help breath life back into our rural towns and villages here in Clare” Breen added.
His party colleague Joe Carey revealed what the funds will be put towards in his home village. “In Clarecastle, the funding will be used to put electric and phone cables underground, replace lighting columns, provide lighting for public spaces, redesign traffic dominated spaces, upgrade footpaths and crossings, as well as planting and painting throughout the village”.