Funding of €7.4m for 140 projects around the country has been announced to help conserve, maintain, protect and promote local monuments through the 2024 Community Monuments Fund.

This funding will allow conservation works to be carried out on monuments that are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support. The aim is to encourage access to monuments and improve their presentation and also to build their resilience to help them withstand the effects of climate change.

The fund supports essential repairs and capital works for the conservation of archaeological monuments and also the development of conservation management plans to identify measures that may be needed to conserve monuments. Grants are also available to enhance public access infrastructure and interpretation at archaeological monuments.

Funding

Launching the funding, Minister of State with responsibility for heritage Malcolm Noonan said that the fund is “enabling valuable investment in the wider heritage sector, creating thousands of hours of employment for specialist craftspeople and traditional skills practitioners, as well as supporting the achievement of national commitments under Heritage Ireland 2030 and the Climate Adaptation Plan for Built and Archaeological Heritage”.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien said the "investment will help to ensure that heritage projects across the country will progress, ensuring the protection of our archaeological heritage as a community asset to be made more accessible to the public”.