Granard community groups to benefit from positive budget

Members of Granard Municipal District have expressed their approval of a €90,000 budget for 2023, which will be allocated among 17 Tidy Towns groups and 60 local bodies.

At the General Municipal Allocation meeting last week, councillors agreed that €36,750 would be allocated to the Voluntary Bodies Grants.

While that figure is €3,904 less than last year’s allocation, that deduction has been reallocated across a number of other divisions, with Town Twinning receiving a €1,500 boost on last year’s figure, bringing its total allocation for 2023 to €6,000.

Meanwhile, Tidy Towns and Development Committees will receive an extra €210 in 2023, bringing their total allocation to €15,000.

An extra €194 will go towards Broadband Connection Points, bringing that total allocation to €1,250.
The allocation for Special Projects Grants will remain the same as last year, at €25,000, while the remaining €2,000 of the budget will be allocated to Dring Carpark.

Councillor Garry Murtagh was the first to comment on the budget, stating that “it looks very positive for us and it’s great to see so many groups being looked after in the community”.
Cllr Turlough McGovern was particularly delighted to see 17 Tidy Town groups and nearly 60 bodies getting funding for 2023.

Cathaoirleach of Granard Municipal District, Cllr Colin Dalton, also welcomed the budget.
“It’s great to see on the budget from last year, 60 bodies getting funding, 17 Tidy Towns and 25 community groups through the special projects and this is in the Granard Municipal Area and this is very, very important for our groups,” he said.

Praise for groups
Cllr Dalton continued, “It keeps them going. I have to compliment our groups out in the Granard municipal area for the great work that they’re doing.

“The previous two years with the Covid have been hard but they all kept going and they all kept doing their bits so I would like to just compliment all the groups and I’m looking forward to working with them for 2023.”