‘Money well spent’ - Thousands of euro allocated to Longford community groups

Thousands of euro has been allocated to various community groups in Co Longford as the Ballymahon Municipal District confirmed its allocations for next year.

At the municipal district’s October meeting, councillors were told that the municipal district had received €120,000 for its general municipal allocations for next year.

They were subsequently presented with the executive’s recommendations for how the district should spend that money.

These recommendations included an allocation of €55,000 for voluntary bodies, €20,000 for art activities and €20,000 for special projects.

There was an increase in funding for Tidy Towns groups, who are set to receive €18,000 in funding next year.

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An extra €2000 was allocated to Town Twinning organisations, while the BCP contribution remained at €2000.

These allocations were welcomed by all the councillors present at the meeting.

The Cathaoirleach, Fine Gael councillor Martin Skelly, said that the Tidy Towns funding for this year had been “very advantageous” and commended the increase in funding for next year.

He congratulated the various Tidy Towns groups in south Longford on winning a number of awards recently and said it was “great to see the money going in a positive way”.

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His party colleague, councillor Paul Ross, also welcomed the funding, saying it was “very welcome to see” and formally proposed the passing of the budget.

This proposal was seconded by Fianna Fáil councillor Mick Cahill, who said it was “money well spent” on behalf of the council.

Meanwhile, fellow Fianna Fáil councillor Pat O’Toole, welcomed the increase in funding for Town Twinning groups.

He mentioned how Ballymahon is hosting schoolchildren from its twin town of Landévant, France this week, highlighting the “great work” that is being done by the group there.

Finally, independent councillor Mark Casey welcomed what he described as a “substantial amount of money” which is being “pumped back into the community”.

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At the end of the meeting, Cathaoirleach Skelly expressed his delight that the allocations had “gone down really well” with the elected members.

Longford County Council will receive applications for funding under these allocations up until April 2026.

Councillors will agree to allocate money to specific groups at the municipal district’s May meeting.

Successful groups can then expect to receive the funding in June 2026.

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