Tourism projects in midlands can avail of €17m ‘just transition’ fund

Fáilte Ireland will on Tuesday ask private and community-based, small tourism projects in the midlands to apply for funding from a €17 million fund.

The fund is part of a €68 million European Union allocation for small tourism businesses to assist communities in making the transition from carbon-intensive enterprises to sustainable tourism developments.

It is being administered by Fáilte Ireland under a €169 million “just transition” package co-funded by the Government and the EU.

The programme is aimed at supporting communities in regions that are negatively affected by the transition from fossil fuel-intensive, or greenhouse-gas-intensive, industries. An example of the way the funds will apply in Ireland will be the support offered for the transition from the use of peat for energy generation.

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The time frame for the spending of the €68 million in tourism projects is between 2023 and 2026, which Fáilte Ireland said has the potential to create a “lasting legacy of transformative change” in the midlands.

The call for the first round of funding, up to €17 million in grants for small and community funding, is to be announced by Fáilte Ireland on Tuesday morning.

The areas covered by the grant scheme include counties Laois, Westmeath, Offaly, Longford and Roscommon, as well as selected parts of Galway, Tipperary and Kildare.

A spokeswoman for Fáilte Ireland said the call for “regenerative tourism” projects to be announced on Tuesday would be small enough to include small initiatives such as bicycle hire businesses or coffee shops along existing greenways.

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The scheme aims to transform tourism across the counties in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands and Ireland’s Ancient East by diversifying the local economy and providing new employment opportunities for workers and communities that were heavily dependent on peat.

Paul Kelly, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland, said the funding scheme would leave a “lasting legacy of transformative change” in the midlands. He said Fáilte Ireland was inviting applicants to express their interest in developing a tourism project that will help create more reasons for domestic and international tourists to visit the midlands while also sustaining jobs, businesses and local communities.