Mattie McGrath: Clannmell Overlooked in URDF Funding
Mattie McGrath criticised the omission of Clannmell from the URDF regional funding round and demanded an explanation from the minister. He said local regeneration and tourism projects had been assessed and approved locally but the town received no funding.
Funding omission
The speech states that the regional strand of URDF funding distributed large sums to Cork and Limerick while Clannmell received no allocation. McGrath highlighted that the town serves 35,000 people and questioned why Clannmell was bypassed in this round.
Local projects and approvals
McGrath listed local proposals said to be ready for phase two funding - the kick-in barracks regeneration phase two, Clannmell flights of discovery, tourism proposals including Bulma's lane project and Shore Island, plus public realm enhancements. He credited local officials Michael Maroney and senior planner Jonathan Flood with detailed background work and said submissions had been assessed and given approval locally.
Requests for explanation and departmental response
McGrath demanded an explanation from the minister and the Department of Housing for why the town was unsuccessful and called for funding in the next round to continue projects. A responding speaker acknowledged a separate project in County Tipperary had been funded, praised the Clannmell proposals after visiting the Bulmers site, expressed disappointment at the omission and said the department should explain to the council and consider the project for a future round.
Local impact and proposed benefits
Speakers emphasised the potential benefits of using local assets - the Bulmers site, the barracks and bringing LIT into the town - and said building a sports hub would be of major benefit. McGrath warned that without phase two funding long‑planned projects and regeneration efforts cannot proceed and called for clarity and action from government departments.
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Clannmell has been overlooked, the regional strand of funding under the URDF funding, announced by Minister O'Brien last week, 500 million went to Cork and Limerick, Clannmell didn't get a ping and a warn, we had a lot of work done and the strands there were the kick-in barracks regeneration phase two, Clannmell flights of discovery, tourism proposals which include Bulma's lane project and Shore Island and indeed a general public and realm enhancement for the town. Indeed, a lot of background work was done there by our district administrator Michael Maroney and senior planner Jonathan Flood and all these submissions were assessed and had got green light and were got approval for, we didn't get a penny, we can't get a gather station, we're looking for 60 years here and the doll's been raised and we still haven't, we've got planning all right and announcements but announcements, we need to know why and explanation given as to why we were unsuccessful, a town that serves 35,000 people, used to be the biggest inland town, it's the second now and a huge number of people and a huge energy there but we need to get this funding phase two to continue projects and to enhance our town, but above all we want an explanation from Minister O'Brien as to why the failures. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Deputy, I think it is important to point out that funding was provided to Nina and County Tipperary as part of this round for a very good project in that town. I think the Clonmel project is really good, I had a chance to visit Clonmel not that long ago with Senator O'Hearn, before he became Senator O'Hearn and had a chance to go to the old Bulmers site and understand the whole concept behind the project which is to bring LIT into the town, make use of the barracks and as you rightly say, Clonmel is a historic borough town. It's a wonderful town in lots of ways and a very large town as well and I think that project is a really great project and I'm disappointed that I didn't get funding in this round quite frankly and I do think that it's appropriate that the Department of Housing should give an explanation to the council and I'm sure they will do that and hopefully the project can be funded in the next round. in the next round because I think using the Bulmers assets, using the asset of the barracks, bringing LIT into the town, building the sports hub will be a huge benefit to Clonmel and I'll continue to work with you and Senator O'Hearn on that. Thank you. Moving on to the... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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