Over €1.5m is to be spent on plans to create a town centre focus for Monksland by Roscommon County Council in conjunction with the Department of Rural & Community Development, says local TD Denis Naughten.

The project will complete plans for the creation of a town centre focus for Monksland with a new community hub, linear park and increased pedestrian and cycle linkages between residential and commercial areas including the lands between the old and new Tuam roads.

“This funding is to complement previous rounds of funding from the Department of Rural & Community Development, including a €3.6m investment that is presently being drawn down for the development of a new enterprise centre in Monksland,” said Denis Naughten, Cathaoirleach of the Dáil Rural Development Committee.

“Over €5m of the funding to be invested in the Monksland area is as a direct result of decisions I made in Government to establish funding streams through the Urban & Rural Regeneration Funds to get vital local projects like the ones in Monksland off the ground.

“These funding programmes allow local communities and the County Council to design projects that will drive forward economic development, rather than Government Departments designing a ‘one size fits all’ approach which had failed so many towns previously.

“This new approach is now beginning to help towns and villages across our area reinvent themselves with the long-term objective of making them better places in which to live and to invest.

“But none of this could have been possible without the work and commitment of the Monksland Town Team and the support provided to it by Roscommon County Council,” concluded Denis Naughten.