GRANTS OF up to €20,000 to preserve old farm buildings and farmyards have been announced by the Heritage Council.
The Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme for 2011-2012 is to be available to farmers in the fourth Rural Environment Protection Scheme (Reps 4).
Anna Meenan, project manager with the Heritage Council, said the scheme was designed to provide assistance to those Reps 4 farmers involved in conserving and securing Ireland’s traditional farm buildings.
“It offers a unique and positive opportunity to safeguard our rural built heritage, to protect the special qualities of the traditional farmstead while allowing it to continue in active use.”
She said farm buildings play a positive role in the scenery of our country.
“They bear witness to our long-lasting relationship with the land and are part of who we are,” she added.
As well as providing a means of employment in rural areas for professionals and local contractors, Ms Meenan said the Heritage Council encourages many farmers to carry out some of the repairs themselves.
“By fostering the acquisition by the farmers themselves of the conservation skills to carry out the works, this process provides them with hands-on knowledge to continue repairs to the buildings, as well as increasing the availability of these craft skills in the local area,” Ms Meenan said of the scheme.
Under the Heritage Council’s scheme, grants are available to carry out approved conservation works to the exterior of farm outbuildings, as well as associated structures, such as historic yard surfaces, walls and gates.
The maximum grant available is €20,000.
The scheme came about as the result of a partnership between the Heritage Council and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Application packs are available online at the heritagecouncil.ie website.
Closing date for applications is 5pm, Friday, July 1st, 2011.