Press Release
From: Kieran O’Donnell TD
Friday 19th March
Limerick City gets massive €116 million boost for urban regeneration – O’Donnell
- €73.40m for World-Class Waterfront (Limerick City and County Council)
- €42.61m for Living Limerick City Centre Initiative (Limerick City and County Council)
- Projects will make the City Centre an even more attractive and vibrant place in which to live, work, invest in and visit.
Limerick City has today received a massive boost with €116m (see Note to Editors for details) for connectivity projects, the regeneration of famed city sites, Georgian quarter, as well as new residential hubs and business developments, Limerick City Fine Gael TD, Kieran O’Donnell has said. These funds have been granted to Limerick City & County Council.
Deputy O’Donnell said, “Over €73m is to be invested in the World-Class Waterfront project for Limerick City, with nearly €43m for the Living Limerick City Centre initiative.
“The world-class waterfront project is about linking both sides of the Shannon river in Limerick City centre, involving two key initiatives;
- the iconic 10 acres Cleeves site, identified to all by its tall red brick chimney will become a major Riverside quarter, with residential, commercial, educational and cultural elements
- The bridges and public area works will address the need for additional pedestrian/cycling links alongside and over the Shannon
“The Living Limerick City Centre initiative consists of a number of key projects;
- Living Georgian City programme – to bring more people to invest, live and work in the historic Georgian quarter in the City centre. This will involve a focus on vacant and derelict Georgian buildings for residential, economic and employment opportunities. This builds on works, including a feasibility study, supported under the URDF’s ‘Call 1’.
- Digital Innovation Cluster Programme – to develop an innovation campus within the city centre to attract cutting-edge companies, start-ups, ‘Accelerators’ and other related entities.
- Citizen Collaboration Programme – to support an active programme of citizen-led and developed solutions to liveability issues in the city centre
The Government funding comes from the second round of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) – a project which Fine Gael began as part of Project Ireland 2040.
“This is proof of Fine Gael’s commitment to Limerick. Based on applications from local authorities, the URDF will see substantial investment in infrastructure, improving Limerick City’s transport and connectivity, quality and location of housing, recreational and cultural facilities, among other areas,”
“This new funding from round 2 of the URDF follows on from funding of €9.68m in November 2018 for seven ‘Call 1’ projects in Limerick City; ‘O’Connell Street’; ‘Digital Collaboration and Virtual Reality Centre’; ‘Worldclass Waterfront’; ‘Social and Economic Model’; ‘Living Georgian City Programme’; ‘Opera Project (Site enabling)’; ‘Digital District (Inner City Digital Hub).
“This new investment will unlock the potential of Limerick City centre on both sides of the Shannon river, making the best use of available sites and the river itself. We are about promoting sensible development and compact growth and ensuring that our City centre is made an even more attractive and vibrant place in which to live, work, invest in and visit.
“I commend the work of Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Peter Burke TD, and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD in overseeing this administration of this unprecedented investment in urban regeneration and development.”
Launched by the Fine Gael-led government in November 2018 as part of Project Ireland 2040, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund is about sensible, strategic and sustainable development that regenerates and rejuvenates our cities and large towns. By aligning with both the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan, the URDF focuses investment on infrastructure, including transport, housing and recreation, in a way that improves quality of life for all.
Deputy O’Donnell “I know the work that has gone into planning and developing these transformative projects and I am eager to see their implementation which will benefit us all here in Limerick City. We are all very proud of Limerick and this serious level of government funding will have a significant impact on the future development of our great city.
END.
Note to editors;
Limerick City and County Council projects
Worldclass Waterfront – €73.4 million
This is a follow-on capital element to feasibility and design works supported under the URDF’s ‘Call 1’ to develop a world class waterfront along the River Shannon close to the city centre.
This project includes:
Cleeves Riverside Quarter – this will deliver high quality, mixed-use development involving the adaptive re-use of historic buildings for cultural/educational use, and public spaces on a key derelict site in close proximity to the city centre. The development will focus on compact city growth.
Pedestrian Bridges and Waterfront Infrastructural Works – public realm works, proposed pedestrian bridges and re-alignment of a public road at Arthur’s Quay and Honan’s Quay. This will facilitate a comprehensive re-development at Arthur’s Quay retail area.
Living Limerick City Centre Initiative – €42.61 million
This project is about making positive, innovative and transformational change to revitalise the centre of Limerick City and supporting the objective of compact growth in a holistic and strategic manner. It is an integrated programme of urban development that will be underpinned by a programme of innovative collaboration.
The city centre is a key piece of architectural and cultural heritage. It is the driver of economic growth for the region. Over recent times it has suffered from high levels of vacancy, under-use and under-investment. Its revitalisation is identified as a transformational project in the Limerick 2030 Plan 2014.
The works to be supported include:
Living Georgian City Programme – renew vacant and underutilised stock by embedding emerging residential, economic and employment opportunities in derelict buildings. This builds on works, including a feasibility study, supported under the URDF’s ‘Call 1’.
Digital Innovation Cluster Programme – This component will build on the work supported under the URDF ‘Call 1’, to develop an innovation campus within the city centre to attract cutting-edge companies, start-ups, ‘Accelerators’ and other related entities. This will create a dense cluster of innovators and entrepreneurs that will support job creation across the region.
Citizen Collaboration Programme – This will involve the development of a citizen observatory to support an active programme of citizen-led and developed solutions to liveability issues in the city centre. The programme will also transform the public realm of the city through a targeted programme of renewal. Renewal will increase footfall and support the development of the emerging economic, employment and residential models.
URDF funding for Limerick City and County Council to date:
The €116.01 million in approved funding is in addition to €9.68 million in approved URDF funding for seven ‘Call 1’ projects: ‘O’Connell Street’; ‘Digital Collaboration and Virtual Reality Centre’; ‘Worldclass Waterfront’; ‘Social and Economic Model’; ‘Living Georgian City Programme’; ‘Opera Project (Site enabling)’; ‘Digital District (Inner City Digital Hub)’.
Total URDF funding approved to date: €125.70 million
Urban Regeneration and Development Fund
The URDF is one of four funds established under the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027. It has an allocation of €2 billion to 2027. Its aim is to support more compact and sustainable development in Ireland’s five cities and other large urban areas.Funding is aimed at projects that support the NDP objectives and the NPF’s ten ‘national strategic outcomes’, which include compact growth; enhanced regional accessibility; and sustainable mobility. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is responsible for administering the URDF.
The four chosen projects are consistent with the Southern Regional Assembly’s Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy and the Mid-West Area Strategic Plan.
Through the URDF, successful applicants receivetargeted, integrated funding for innovative solutions to issues that have hindered urban regeneration and rejuvenation. The fund part-funds projects that will deliver a greater proportion of residential and mixed-use development within the existing built-up footprints of cities and large towns.
The URDF’s significant capital investment acts as a catalyst for wider regeneration, development and growth. The IDA has already acknowledged the URDF’s important role in creating a sense of place, something considered essential for increasing Ireland’s attractiveness to foreign investment and strengthening opportunities for indigenous enterprise.
URDF ‘Call 1’ funding: The URDF is already providing assistance for major regeneration projects in Ireland’s larger urban areas. Under ‘Call 1’ of the URDF, 87 projects are being funded. Details were announced in November 2018. These projects are spread across the regions and span a number of the NPF’s objectives. The total provisional allocations to date in respect of these 87 projects is just under €300m.
URDF ‘Call 2’ funding: a second call for funding proposals was announced in January 2020. It focused on (1) integrated urban developments (2) strategic development areas combining a number of elementsand (3) schemes that support wider climate action objectives and quality of life factors within cities and towns. Projects aim to deliver compact growth whilst ensuring more of our urban areas become attractive and vibrant places in which to live, work, visit and invest.
More information on the URDF is available at: www.gov.ie/urdf