Roscrea’s Main Street to be transformed in major town centre regeneration project

Tipperary County Council has confirmed that it will provide almost a quarter of a million euro in matched funding for “The Transformational Regeneration of Roscrea: A Town Centre First Approach” scheme.

The move follows an allocation of €971,000 from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), announced last Friday.

The combined total of more than €1.2 million is intended to breathe new life into the town’s centre, which has long awaited meaningful renewal.

The design-led project will focus on upgrading Main Street, creating new laneway connections and redeveloping a vacant building that was identified as a key action in the Roscrea Town Centre First Masterplan.

That plan, which followed an extensive round of public consultation, aims to reimagine the town centre as a place where community and commerce can once again flourish.

The plans include a strong focus on heritage, tourism and enterprise projects to increase economic activity.

The funding, under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF), is being invested in projects that will rejuvenate town centres, drive economic growth, increase town footfall, combat dereliction, develop pedestrian zones and boost tourism in rural Ireland. 

Examples of other projects which have received funding approval include €1,000,000 to develop Rosslare Sustainable Tourism Experience; €870,000 for the ‘Swinford Urban Realm Project’ to facilitate development of a new public space for town markets and local festivals;

€772,000 to develop a conservation management plan and business case to refurbish ‘The Old Steam Mill’ in Skibbereen as a famine story and exhibition centre and €558,000 to for ‘Rosses Point Community Boat Park’ in Sligo to help develop Sligo’s tourism, recreational and maritime industries.

Deputy Michael Lowry welcomed the announcement, placing it within the wider goals of national rural policy. “This €1 billion Fund was established under Project Ireland 2040 to deliver the targeted investment necessary to ensure that rural Ireland continues to grow and prosper and deliver on balanced regional growth that is in everyone’s interests,” he said.

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