THRIVE

Public Consultation: Connolly Barracks Reimagined 

Connolly Barracks Reimagined drop-in public consultations take place in Connolly Barracks on Thursday, 12 December between 4.30pm and 7.30pm. The public, community groups and representatives, businesses and all other interested persons are encouraged to come along and share their ideas on the future redevelopment of this historic building and area in Longford Town. 

Read more about the Connolly Barracks Reimagined project below. 

THRIVE

THRIVE - the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme - was launched by Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Kieran O'Donnell TD on February 8. The scheme is run under Ireland's two European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regional Programmes and is providing €120 million to support local authorities and their citizens to re-imagine town centres and to transform publicly owned vacant or derelict heritage buildings within those town centres through renovation, renewal, and adaptive reuse. THRIVE is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union. 

THRIVE incorporates the core values of the New European Bauhaus - sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion. The scheme promotes a citizen-centred community-led approach to planning, design and project selection under the Town Centre First Framework. THRIVE is targeted at larger urban settlements - cities, regional growth centres and key towns - and is focused on publicly owned heritage buildings. Heritage buildings under the scheme are classified as structures that form part of the architectural heritage and have unique architectural, historical, archaeological or artistic qualities, or are linked to the cultural and economic history of a place. 

THRIVE launched two calls for applications in February 2024.

Strand 1 applications relate to:

• integrated urban strategies and project pipeline development, including for the development and enhancement of integrated urban strategies,
• identification of projects that promote the conservation and adaptive reuse of our built heritage stock while reducing vacancy and dereliction in town centres, 
• prioritisation, development and specification of project proposals to create a pipeline of investment-ready built heritage refurbishments, renovation and adaptive reuse projects.

Strand 2 applications relate to:

• Renovation and adaptive reuse of vacant or derelict heritage buildings. 
• Delivery of selected pilot and pathfinder projects that will have a positive and transformative impact on town centre vacancy and dereliction and that will inform the approach for other towns at earlier stages in the process. 

Connolly Barracks Reimagined

In April 2024, Longford County Council submitted an application for funding under Strand 1 for the development of proposals, up to and including Part 8 consent for the redevelopment of the former Connolly Barracks building for use as a community/cultural/library space. This application was approved in May 2024 with €199,020 funding awarded to progress this element of the project. 

Connolly Barracks is a key building in the northern end of Longford Town that has been empty since the Army vacated the site in 2009. Longford County Council purchased the site in 2014 including the Officer's Mess and the plaza area to the front. Despite various project ideas coming forward in the intervening years, no progress has happened on the redevelopment of the site. It is seen as a key site for the regeneration of the northern end of Longford Town. 

Following a procurement process over the summer of 2024, Robin Lee Architects have been appointed as consultants to carry out preliminary design, environmental assessments, business case and Part 8 consent for the redevelopment of the site as a community/cultural/library space.

The need for community/cultural space within Longford Town was clearly identified by the local community during public consultation carried out during the preparation of the Longford Town Centre First Plan. This will allow the arts sector to grow in the town and county and also support the integration among communities in the town. The provision of a museum has been a long held ambition of many within the town. It is envisioned that the delivery of this project will allow the people of Longford to achieve those aims. 

The THRIVE Strand 2 call for applications is expected to open early in 2025. Longford County Council is working towards submitting an application for the delivery of the project under that call. 

This project is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.