The Town Centre First Policy is a whole-of-government policy framework launched on February 4, 2021. The policy aims to address the decline in the health of towns across Ireland and support measures to regenerate and revitalize them. It is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It advocates for a holistic, place-based approach to sustainable rural development. As part of the roll-out of this policy, €2.6m in funding was awarded by the Minister for Rural and Community development, Ms Heather Humphreys T.D., for 26 towns to develop Town Centre First Plans. These 26 towns were nominated by each Local Authority and approved by the Minister. Urlingford was designated as the first town in County Kilkenny to have a Town Centre First Plan, called a Masterplan, under this new Government policy. Graigeunamanagh is taking part in the second phase of the Town Centre First Programme.
Kilkenny County Council adopted a Masterplan for Urlingford on the 18th September, 2023 at the Castlecomer Municipal District Meeting. The purpose of the Masterplan is to guide the development of Urlingford into the future and to influence and deliver on real change for the town in order to make it a more attractive destination in which to live, work, visit and do business. Kilkenny County Council and Turley, the Consultants who drafted the Masterplan undertook extensive public outreach in the local community and members of the public, local organisations etc were invited to submit their views and comments before the draft was finalised. The comments submitted by the Urlingford Town team are attached. We are delighted that our priorities are reflected in the Masterplan as adopted, and we look forward to working with the County Council and to supporting their efforts to deliver on the ambition in the Masterplan
Adopted Masterplan for Urlingford 2023 Low Res .pdf 19 MB
The 26 towns previously selected to complete Town Centre First Plans under Phase 1 can be found here .
Further information on the completed plans is available on the Town Centre First website.
