CLÁR funding now available

LOUTH TD Fergus O’Dowd, has highlighted a new round of Clár funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development, saying that Louth County Council should apply now to support families in the County.

He confirmed that €5 million has been set aside for Clár funding in 2018, ‘which is really welcome news for families in communities across Louth.’

‘Clár provides funding for small scale capital projects in rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation. We want to support people in depopulated areas to stay and raise their families there, which will serve to strengthen communities across rural Ireland.

Louth County Council has now been notified of this year’s Clár funding, so I urge them to make their applications in good time. They can apply for a maximum of 15 projects and can do so either directly, or by facilitating local groups to apply.”

Clár is part of the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development. Funding will be provided under three measures: Support for Schools/Community Safety Measures; Play Areas; and First Response Support Measure.

O’Dowd continued: “The funding will be used for to support investments such as play areas for children; traffic calming measures around schools; and support for emergency responders.

‘ The Clár programme is also helping to make rural schools safer for our children by funding footpaths outside schools and supporting traffic calming measures to get cars to slow down as they pass schools.’