07 Mar €96k in funding for 10 Built Heritage projects across Mayo – Dillon
- Projects funded include: Church of St. Charles, Hollymount and Ballinrobe House, Ballinrobe
- The successful Mayo-based projects to receive between €6000 and €13,500.
- Announcement follows launch last week of Heritage Ireland 2030, a new national heritage plan which seeks to strengthen protection for our heritage in all its forms and provide supports to those responsible for its care.
Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon has today welcomed the announcement of funding through the Built Heritage Investment Scheme for 2022 for 10 historic and protected structures across County Mayo. This scheme is administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
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 funding can be used to undertake repair work, contributing to the upkeep and maintenance of heritage structures. Examples include roof, wall and joinery repair, draught-proofing windows, lime rendering and the repair of stained-glass windows.
The scheme is not limited to private dwellings and also provides assistance to a wide range of other important heritage structures – this year’s BHIS includes awards to historic landmarks including Ballyglass Lighthouse, Ballyglass and Ballina Church of Ireland National School.
The following projects have been successful:
| Church of St. Charles the Martyr, Hollymount | €13,500 |
| The Old Rectory, Westport | €13,400 |
| Bridge House, Westport | €12,100 |
| Ballina Presbyterian Church, Ballina | €10,000 |
| Church of Ireland, Foxford | €10,000 |
| Ballinrobe House, Ballinrobe | €10,000 |
| Ballyglass Lighthouse, Ballyglass | €8,000 |
| Raheens Obelisk, Raheens | €6,500 |
| Ballina Church of Ireland National School, Ballina | €6,500 |
| Creagh House, Ballinrobe | €6,000 |
Deputy Dillon said “The protection of our built heritage was one of the priorities in the recently-published cross-government strategy for the protection of Ireland’s heritage, Heritage Ireland 2030. Furthermore, partnership is a key theme of Heritage Ireland 2030, and the BHIS is one of two built heritage funding schemes, run in association with the 31 local authorities and their Architectural Conservation Officers and Heritage Officers, working in partnership with the Department to protect our built heritage.
Also included under the BHIS 2022 is a continuation of a micro-grant stream introduced in 2020 to increase the resilience of historic structures to withstand the 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.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, TD, said
“Today’s announcement of €4m funding for 512 built heritage projects under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2022 is fantastic news. This funding will help safeguard our built heritage and will create economic benefits by generating employment in specialist trades, providing opportunities for heritage contractors and skilled tradespeople. The wide range of projects being funded by this year’s scheme is representative of the diverse nature of Ireland’s built heritage and demonstrates the ongoing commitment of owners in caring for that heritage.
Minister of State for Local Government, Peter Burke, TD, also welcomed the announcement, stating:
“The continued success of the Built Heritage Investment Scheme highlights the efforts of the Local Authorities, particularly the Architectural Conservation Officers, Heritage Officers and planning and administrative staff, and the close working relationship they have with the Department. Once again, the BHIS will fund conservation work on many projects within our towns, in line with this Government’s commitment to put Town Centres First”.
Deputy Dillon concluded “In addition to supporting owners and custodians of historic and protected structures to safeguard and maintain their properties, this funding will also provide a welcome boost to local construction and heritage trades by facilitating works. This is a very important scheme and I am very pleased to see that ten worthy projects have received funding.”