Some €380,000 has been earmarked for local improvement schemes in Clarecastle, Kilkee, Scariff and Shannon from the €10 million national kitty.
Each of the four Clare projects will receive €95,000 to finance a wide range improvements that have been put forward by local community groups to make their towns and villages more attractive places in which to live and work.
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.
The €95,000 allocated to Kilkee will be used for landscaping and to provide public art at Percy French Green and the Carrigaholt roundabout. Scariff will benefit from work on safety and access to the access to public areas while the allocation to Shannon will go towards delivering the Shannon Town Green Infrastructure Plan.
“We are determined to get this funding delivered as quickly as possible. Now that the projects have been approved, work can get underway without undue delay”, outlined Clare TD, Joe Carey.
“Rural development is a key priority. Our towns and villages are the heart of our rural communities, but many of them are still recovering from the economic downturn. This scheme is designed to help breath life back into Clare’s rural towns and villages,” Deputy Carey concluded.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.