Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2021 includes Donegal projects

The Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) 2021 is to include 11 Donegal built heritage projects.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue welcomed the funding, which will result in €72,000 for projects in Donegal.

He said: "The announcement of these funding schemes will help Donegal County Council and local heritage groups to continue to maintain and improve the wealth of built heritage projects we have in Donegal.

"This year’s announcement for Donegal includes funding for famous Donegal projects such as Fort Stewart in Ramelton and Colgan Hall in Carndonagh."

The other Donegal projects are: house at Back Lane, Ramelton; the Bottling Store, Ramelton; The Laurels, Glenties; Old Court House, Lifford; Manies Bar, Convoy; St Ernans, Donegal Town; Termon House, Mahery; Guildhall, Ramelton; and Bundoran Community Centre.

The BHIS funding, which was announced by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan, will support owners and custodians of historic and protected structures to safeguard and maintain their properties. It will also provide a welcome boost to local construction and heritage trades by facilitating works.

The BHIS announcement followed the decision by Cabinet earlier this week to implement a limited, phased easing of restrictions from April until a substantial level of vaccination has been achieved, in the hope that a full re-opening of construction activity can be considered in early May.

it will allow owners and custodians to begin to plan for the months ahead. All work must, of course, be carried out in full compliance with Government/HSE guidance on Covid-19.

The BHIS is one of two built heritage funding schemes run by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in association with the 31 Local Authorities.

Through grants of up to €15,000, the BHIS assists owners of heritage structures – including those on the local authorities’ Record of Protected Structures and those in Architectural Conservation Areas – to meet their obligations to care for their properties. The scheme is not limited to private dwellings and also provides assistance to a wide range of other important heritage structures.

Also included under the BHIS 2021 is a continuation of a micro-grant stream introduced in 2020 to increase the resilience of historic structures to withstand the constant effects of climate change. This allows local authorities to make smaller awards to owners of historic properties to carry out routine maintenance to offset the impact of climate change on their buildings.

Details of awards granted under the Department’s other built heritage scheme, the Historic Structures Fund, will be announced following their assessment in the coming weeks.