Celtic Interconnector Community Benefit Fund
The Fund
The Celtic Interconnector Community Benefit Fund has been established by EirGrid to recognise the important role of local communities who are hosting this grid infrastructure and to acknowledge the temporary disruption which may be caused within proximity of the cable line during the construction phase of the project.
The fund has a total value of €2.4million euro which is released in three phases, when construction begins, mid-way through the project and when the project is energised.
The overall aim is to increase public and environmental wellbeing in the community and to leave a positive legacy in the communities hosting EirGrid this grid infrastructure.
Latest news
In December 2023, the successful applicants of Phase 1 of funding was announced.
To review the list of successful applicants for Phase 1 please see below.
Phase 1 of the fund opened for applications on 29 June 2023 and closed on 15 September 2023.
Phase 1 of the fund was extremely well received, with a high number of applicants. The majority of applicants were successful, with 29 in total receiving funding.
Independent fund administrator SECAD Partnership CLG contacted the successful applicants.
Successful projects were located throughout the project area, featuring a broad range of activities from sports to arts, to youth services and older age organisations. This first phase of funding covered our three activity streams, with €320,000 allocated through the community stream and €320,000 via the sustainability stream. A total of €198,987 was allocated for projects as part of the biodiversity stream, with the remaining €120,000 unallocated due to a shortfall of biodiversity projects.
As per the guidelines, this money will be carried over and allocated in the next funding round to support impactful community-based biodiversity project applications.
We look forward to continuing to work with SECAD, our forum members, local councils, the wider communities and not-for-profit organisations in east Cork, to aid in capacity building ahead of Phase 2 of this community benefit fund.