Boyle has been selected, along with five other towns nationwide, to pilot a new scheme aimed at revitalising rural areas.
Under the scheme, €100,000 is being allocated to Boyle to improve services and infrastructure and to encourage people to live in the town centre.
Along with Boyle, Ballinrobe, Callan, Banagher, Castleblayney and Cappoquin will all featured in the scheme.
The announcement was made on Thursday by Minister Michael Ring who said the funding will be used to identify issues and challenges in the towns and to develop blueprints that can be implemented.
According to Minister Ring “In setting up the pilot scheme we are saying to the communities it’s up to you now. The six towns that have been picked, we want them to come back to us with any idea that they have.”
“The six towns may come back with six different ways that they could see their town being developed”.
The news follows the announcement of €200,000 for Boyle last week under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2018.
Further applications under the Rural Regeneration Scheme and Outdoor Recreation Scheme for just under €3m have also been submitted for Boyle.
The news has been welcomed by Senator Frank Feighan who said: “This pilot scheme, announced by Minister Michael Ring today, is aimed at encouraging more people to live in the centre of the town.
“Funding of €100,000 has been made available in order for Boyle to prepare a plan with practical solutions to increase the number of people living in our rural towns.
“This pilot scheme will consider ways in which properties that are currently not in use can be renovated to allow them to be used for residential purposes. This is all about encouraging people to move back into town centres such as Boyle.
“This one of the key objectives of the Boyle 2040 plan which was launched recently. This pilot scheme will have a two-fold effect: it will help rejuvenate the town centre while also contributing to the housing needs of people.
“As Michael Ring has said, this pilot initiative will allow six Local Authorities, including Roscommon County Council, to develop and test different innovative models which are considered appropriate for towns of different sizes and in different locations. The learnings from this approach will help to provide an indication as to what might work well for similar types of town on a wider scale.”
