Mayo communities benefit from €70,000 heritage funding

WILDLIFE, local economies and tourism in Mayo are to flourish as the Heritage Council has announced almost €70,000 in funding for projects in the area.

Funding from two of three Heritage Council schemes, which collectively help to conserve and restore built, cultural and natural heritage throughout the country, will be issued to grant recipients in Mayo this year.

Projects that will receive funding include the Mayo Dark Skies Group - €20,000 - to provide a technical design package which will provide pilot lighting, improving access areas and showcasing best practice light design for public enjoyment.

The River Moy Search and Rescue Group in Ballina will use its funding to monitor and undertake a condition assessment of populations of vertigo snails in the Killala Bay Moy Estuary, with a particular focus on the recently identified petrified streams and tufa habitat.

Work on the projects can begin immediately, with hundreds of local communities across the country enriched through initiatives, from the conservation of medieval town defence walls in our walled towns, to the digitisation of otherwise vulnerable materials, to supporting endangered wildlife to thrive in their natural habitats.

The projects will all be completed by the end of the year.

As projects reach completion, the resulting enrichment of life in Irish towns and villages will come into focus. The restoration of historically significant buildings, as well as the funding given to upgrade and update websites and accessibility, will attract more tourists, create greater footfall across the country to the benefit of local economies, and the preservation of habitats will allow wildlife to flourish.