{"id":667501,"date":"2026-10-28T05:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T05:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/667501\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T05:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T05:04:10","slug":"rural-strategy-to-improve-everyday-lives-of-people-by-2031-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/667501\/","title":{"rendered":"Rural strategy to improve everyday lives of people by 2031 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A significant expansion of transport services<\/a> such as Local Link and achieving high-speed digital connectively throughout the State provide central elements of the Government\u2019s new five-year rural strategy. <\/p>\n

Our Rural Future was launched in Dublin on Tuesday by Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a>, Minister for Rural Affairs Dara Calleary<\/a> and Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Government has said the plan will improve the everyday lives of those living and working in rural Ireland<\/a> by the time it is completed in 2031. <\/p>\n

Launching the report, Martin said the last strategy had been effective particularly for broadband availability \u2013 with half a million homes connected as a result of the National Broadband Plan<\/a>. <\/p>\n

He said data showed that 67 per cent of jobs assisted by Enterprise Ireland had been created outside of Dublin and that 57 per cent of IDA investment was now being made in rural Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been significant population growth in many towns and villages across rural Ireland, and also the ongoing development of the agri-food industry has created a very sustainable core industry,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Martin said he disagreed with analysis that suggested rural Ireland was being depopulated, with most growth happening around Dublin. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the population, many towns around Ireland have grown and some of the investments now happening through the Rural Regeneration Fund, for example, have been very impactful,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have working [digital] hubs 10 or 15 years ago. There are 420 hubs now. You know we do need a better analysis, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0New report on impact of hybrid working in Ireland to deliver its findingsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The strategy contains dozens of actions under five headings, with a significant focus on ensuring all communities have superior connectivity to support employment, enterprise and services. <\/p>\n

It looks to completing the National Broadband Plan, as well as providing more Connected Hubs and high-quality co-working facilities in rural areas for remote<\/a> and hybrid working<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The strategy also commits to \u201cextensive improvements\u201d to electricity and water systems, as well as housing.<\/p>\n

Another key commitment is to expand Local Link services. Since 2022, 185 new or improved rural transport services have connected 240 towns and villages to the public transport network. <\/p>\n

The plan commits to completing the targets set out in the existing Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan and \u201cbuild on this progress\u201d. <\/p>\n

There will be a focus on the agri-food and tourism sectors, while the status of Irish<\/a> as a community language in Gaeltacht areas is recognised with an undertaking to strengthen it.<\/p>\n

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On the environment pillar, the strategy says the rural community will seek to achieve sustainability<\/a> through investment in renewable energy infrastructure<\/a>, the growth of the bioeconomy and the circular economy, as well as supports for people working in farming, fishing and forestry. <\/p>\n

As to a recent research paper published by the GAA showing some rural clubs were struggling with declining playing populations, Martin said he did not agree that rural Ireland was in decline.<\/p>\n

In Kerry, where the report noted some towns with dwindling player pools, Martin said there were other parts of the county with population growth including the towns of Killorglin, Milltown and Dingle. <\/p>\n

In his own county, Martin said there was considerable growth in rural parts of west Cork and in many towns and villages. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe perhaps may have to look at how evenly spread [the growth] is, but I don\u2019t accept the narrative as presented,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A significant expansion of transport services such as Local Link and achieving high-speed digital connectively throughout the State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1153,16570,13355,20774,61,60,34095,1843,43,12361,16456,42957,3400,21674],"class_list":["post-667501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-sustainability","tag-dara-calleary","tag-food-production","tag-hybrid-working","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-language","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-peter-burke","tag-public-transport","tag-remote-working","tag-renewable-energy","tag-rural-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}