Urban Development
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-21
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Emer Currie (FG), Dublin West

I thank the Minister. He is absolutely right. There is a lot of interest in this. Interest is growing. I am just going to talk about Castleknock. The population directly around and including the village is about 15,000, whereas the wider area has about 30,000 people. That is why we are not eligible. We would not be eligible either under the urban regeneration and development fund. I have said before that we are falling between two stools.
Just over a year ago, Fingal County Council agreed that under the town centre first initiative, it would actually do a health check for Castleknock and Blanchardstown villages. That work is going to start in September, led by a town team that includes Castleknock Tidy Towns and the Castleknock business forum that was set up about a year ago. That is really positive. They are working on diagnosing the problems in the community and seeking funding to activate the associated plans. There is potential in this regard under the town and village renewal scheme. It would work for other villages in my area, such as Clonsilla, Blanchardstown and Ongar. We want to replicate in suburban areas the Government's success in rural areas. My colleagues are interested in doing this in other parts of the country as well.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-21