· Dungarvan Town Centre one of 27 landmark regeneration projects nationwide
· Three town centre buildings set to provide 90 co-working spaces, training, innovation and incubation space for up to 200 people.
Waterford Fine Gael Senator John Cummins, has welcomed a major funding announcement for Dungarvan under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund by his party colleague Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys.
Senator Cummins said “I am delighted that my colleague Minister Humphrey’s has seen fit to support a new town revitalisation project for Dungarvan and allocated a funding package of nearly €1.4million. This is a huge vote of confidence in Dungarvan, and I am delighted to have worked closely with Minister Humphreys and Waterford Council to ensure this transformative project was successful. This was one of the major projects which was discussed at length when the Minister stayed in Dungarvan prior to officially opening St. Declan’s Way back at the end of September.”
The project aims to revitalise Dungarvan town through the provision of 90 co-working spaces, the development of an incubation, innovation and commercialisation hub, the creation of a Digital Knowledge facility to support existing and new companies and the development of training workspaces. It is expected the facilities, which will be spread across three town centre buildings (Dungarvan Enterprise Centre and 18/19 O’Connell Street) will facilitate up to 200 people when fully operational. Waterford City and County Council has costed the project at approximately €1,743,582 with the Department of Rural and Community Affairs committing €1,394,822 to the project.
Senator Cummins said “This is a really exciting project for Dungarvan which seeks to promote economic development within the town centre, helping to retain and grow local talent, promoting an ecosystem of new start-ups and providing a base for many employees who currently commute long distances to work but can now look forward to working in a state of the art co-working facility. The focus on data analytics and digital transformation is key as this is a huge growth area.”
“As a government, through Our Rural Future, we want to support strategic towns like Dungarvan and make them an attractive base not only to live and to enjoy the wonderful amenities our County has to offer but also to work and do business in.”
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys said: “Today’s announcement is proof of our strong commitment to supporting our rural communities both economically and socially. I am delighted that my Department is in a position to award this funding support to Dungarvan under Measure two of the Rural Regeneration Development fund (RRDF). I visited County Waterford with Senator Cummins late last year, and I can see the wonderful potential the county has to offer, especially to those who wish to work from towns and villages across the county”.
“The level of funding that has been awarded to Dungarvan today is significant and should be seen as a huge vote of confidence in County Waterford. Credit must go to Waterford Council and all the stakeholders who contributed to the quality of the application. I look forward to working with the Council, Dungarvan & West Waterford Chamber of Commerce, WIT, the Enterprise Centre and other community and industry stakeholders to see this regeneration project come to fruition”, concluded Senator Cummins.