Plan to relocate remote workers could transform Kilkenny’s towns and villages

A new Government policy encouraging rural growth could transform towns and villages across Kilkenny.

The coalition’s five-year rural development plan, titled ‘Our Rural Future’, encourages people to relocate to our rural towns and villages.

The Government believes now is the right time to develop a new rural economy is the wake of the pandemic. The main points of the plan focus on attracting remote workers to rural communities; revitalising town centres, creating rural jobs, developing adventure tourism and the green economy; and work towards developing our island.

To achive this, the Government government is looking to create up to 400 new remote working centres around the country and are looking at former pubs, banks, and shops as ideal locations for these work hubs. Up to €1 billion has been set aside for projects to see these hubs established.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “Ireland is heading into an era of unprecedented change, and with that comes unprecedented opportunity.

“Over the course of the pandemic, we have discovered new ways of working and we have rediscovered our communities.

“The policy we launch today, Our Rural Future, provides a framework for the development of rural areas over the next five years.

“The policy is forward-looking and ambitious and addresses both the challenges facing rural areas and the opportunities which rural economies and communities can capitalise on.

“The Government’s vision is for a rural Ireland which is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing and development.  Rural Ireland will play a central role in our recovery from the impact of Covid-19,” the Taoiseach added.