Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey has confirmed that more than €1.1 million has been allocated to ten Clare projects from the Government’s Community Services Programme.

The programme, which is administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development, supports organisations to meet local service gaps and provide access to services and facilities that would otherwise generally be unavailable.

The biggest single allocation of €307,979 went to the Obair community development group in Newmarket on Fergus which also received €200,000 from the Town and Village Renewal Scheme in 2017.

“Obair is currently involved in the development of the Tradaree Food Hub project which includes the redevelopment of the former Tradree Arms into a kitchen training unit for chefs together with a production unit for an enhanced meals on wheels service,”Deputy Carey explained. 

“This project will transform a derelict building into a hub of activity by providing 16 training spaces for Chefs in conjunction with the Clare Limerick Education and Training Board (LCETB) and the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT).

Other Clare projects to benefit from the latest round of community service programme funding are:

Kilrush Amenity Trust (€132,665);

East Clare Community Co-operative Society (€112,532);

South West Clare Community Radio (€112,532);

West Clare Family Resource Centre (€112,532);

Shannon Social Economy Maintenance Services (€108,132); 

Burren Display Centre (€92,399);

Michael Cusack Development Company (€60,399);

Irish Seed Savers Association (€47,582); 

Lisdoonvarna Failte (€40,266).