An investment of over €3 million has been announced for recreational sites operated by Coillte.

The funding of €3.13 million was announced by Minister of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary.

The funding provided for 2026 comes in the final year of a five-year strategic partnership between the department and Coillte.

The five-year partnership has seen €16 million provided to Coillte so far for its recreational sites.

The department has a strategic partnership in place with Coillte via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The MoU agrees to provide funding for the period 2022-2026 to Coillte to enhance recreational facilities on Coillte land and to support increased tourism and economic activity in rural areas.

The partnership followed a previous five-year agreement that provided funding of €11 million over the period 2017-2021.

The are many different projects and sites around the country that are set to see improvements through this funding.

Some of the most notable ones in terms of the amount of funding include:

Woodpark, Co. Clare - Car park improvement works and the upgrading of 1.4km of trail (€90,000);
Curragh Chase Forest Park, Co. Limerick - Renewal of Forest Park entrance road (€280,000);
Belleek Woods, Co. Mayo - First installation of play features as part of a new woodland play trail (€105,000);
Sopwell, Co. Tipperary - Renewal of bog bridge (€60,000);
Monivea Forest, Co. Galway - Car park improvements works and trail upgrade (€76,000);
Dún an Rí Forest Park, Co. Cavan - Modernisation of toilet facilities (€82,000).

The investment for 2026 comprises €2 million to facilitate ongoing maintenance and associated supports at over 200 recreational sites across the country; and €1.1m to support the development of new recreation amenities and upgrades of existing facilities at 20 sites nationwide.

Minister Calleary commented: "2026 marks the final year of my department’s current five-year strategic partnership with Coillte. Over the last five years, funding of over €16 million has been provided to support and maintain Coillte’s wonderful recreation forests and amenities around the country.

"As well as being used to maintain and develop Coillte’s trail network and recreation amenities, this funding has also supported Coillte’s engagement with local communities and recreation groups right across the country," Minister Calleary added.

"These forests are great assets that visitors and local communities enjoy on a daily basis and they are a hugely important element of the outdoor recreation sector in Ireland," he said.

"Our partnership with Coillte is one of the most important and I look forward to working with the organisation in the coming months to develop a new strategic partnership from 2027," Minister Calleary said.