Joe O’Brien TD Announces Over €110,000 to Protect Heritage Buildings in Skerries
10th March, 2023
Joe O’Brien TD has today (Friday, March 10th) praised the decision to award funding to support the preservation of heritage buildings in Skerries as part of the Built Heritage Investment Scheme. In total, 556 heritage projects in 31 local authorities across the country will benefit from a total of €4.5m under this year’s Scheme – an increase of 12.5% on 2022, as announced by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD.
Welcoming the announcement, Joe O’Brien TD said:
“I’m very pleased to see that heritage buildings in Skerries are to benefit from over €19,000 in funding under this year’s the Built Heritage Investment Scheme. Skerries has some wonderful historic buildings that we need to preserve for future generations. I welcome that buildings in the historic heart of the town on Church Street are a particular focus of works this year
“Built Heritage has always been a key priority for the Green Party, and with a Green Minister for Heritage, we’re seeing increased investment by Government in the protection and preservation of our built as well as our natural environment. This has obvious benefits for our cities, towns, and villages, both in terms of preserving the integrity of our historic and vernacular buildings, and in terms of preserving the skills and crafts required for this conservation work. These schemes deliver thousands of hours of professional craft skills, many of which are based in rural communities.
“The Built Heritage Investment Scheme is hugely impactful in this regard because it allows so many owners and custodians of historic and protected structures to complete necessary works to maintain these structures and safeguard them for the benefit of future generations, and this support is not limited to private dwellings. This round of awards is supporting work on a wide range of heritage structures, including landmark buildings and historic churches, mills and castles.”
Announcing the funding, Minister Malcolm Noonan said:
“Ireland’s towns and villages were built around a uniquely Irish vernacular; a style and an approach to craft and design that gave our places their charm and character, and supported the traditional craftsmanship needed to maintain it. We’re in danger of letting that vernacular slip away, and that’s why it’s vitally important that as a government, we support people to protect our built heritage; to choose repair or restore over redesign or replace; and to keep traditional crafts alive.
“It’s an undertaking that I know requires significant time, care, expertise and investment, and my Department is recognising this with significantly increased investment in 2023. Across both funding schemes, for built heritage and historic structures, we’re supporting this work to the tune of €9 million this year – an increase of 12.5% on 2022.”
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Full details of Skerries allocation under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2023:
No. 17 Church Street, Skerries, Co. Dublin | Thatching | €5,200 |
No. 6 Holmpatrick Terrace, Skerries, Co. Dublin | Roof structure repair/stability | €7,100 |
Red Bank, No. 7 Church Street, Skerries, Co. Dublin | Roof repair, structures & coverings including lead work & Historic window glass conservation/protection | €7,300 |