2019 Shows No Sign Of Slowing For Irish Construction Industry
2019 Will doesn’t look like it is slowing down with €100 million Urban Regeneration and Development fund announced
More construction jobs outside of Dublin on the horizon for 2019 as the government allocates over 100 Million to innovative new projects.
A recent announcement from the government said that 88 projects are to be allocated a total of €100 million under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), launched in July 2018 as part of Project Ireland 2040.
An Taoiseach said: “The Urban Fund is aimed at all of our cities and towns with a population of more than 10,000. It’s an investment of €2bn over the next ten years aimed at unlocking the potential undeveloped sites in our towns and cities. We want them to have vibrant centres and to grow up rather than out. “We want smart, compact, urban growth. We want to make sure we have more people living in our city centres and close to the centre of large towns, making it easier to walk to work, cutting commuting times and distances, making better use of existing infrastructure while also benefitting the environment. The scale of funding available under this fund means the successful projects will have a tangible and positive impact on the daily lives of people living in our large towns and cities. We have never planned our towns and cities in this way before. We’re announcing €100m in projects today, and I look forward to seeing construction starting in the new year.”
The announcement was made as part of the Government’s National Planning Framework and National Development Plan with the goal being to help rejuvenate significant but underused areas in Ireland’s five cities and other large towns. There are four funds under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 is allocated for this purpose with a total of €2 billion being assigned to the URDF up to 2027.
The URDF are trying to stimulate new residential and commercial development in Ireland’s larger cities and towns. The intent is that these new developments will be supported by new services and amenities, and will help us to achieve ‘compact growth’ that is laid out in Project Ireland 2040.
Almost 200 applications were submitted to the Department since it launched its call for applications in July. There was a huge range of applications including:
Transforming the former school on Rutland Street within the North East Inner City as a community hub; support for large-scale strategic sites on both sides of the river in the Cork Docklands
Regeneration areas; Regeneration for O’Connell Street and projects in the city centre of Limerick; and public realm and riverside enhancement for the Abbey Quarter in Kilkenny.
There are going to be a further round of funding in 2019 through to 2027.
A list of the successful applications can be found here www.housing.gov.ie.