Town Centre First

Town Centre First is a government policy that aims to regenerate towns across Ireland, creating town centres that are viable, vibrant, and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit. By investing in town centres, Town Centre First enables towns to thrive and to reach their full potential, while functioning as the service, social, cultural, and recreational hub for the local community.

Why town centres?

Towns and villages act as social and economic hubs, providing employment, supporting businesses, and providing space for communities to gather. Town centres are also key points for accessing services, transport, and other local amenities. Our towns and villages provide us with a sense of pride and belonging, and the built heritage of a town connects us with our past.

However, towns and villages across Ireland have also faced significant challenges over the last number of years. This includes issues with vacancy and dereliction, employment opportunities in cities drawing people away from the town, shopping moving online and businesses struggling to stay open as a result. With rapid development taking place at the edges of towns, and many services moving further out, the town centre is becoming a less attractive place to live and do business.

Town Centre First aims to address this by reviving town centres and making them vibrant places to live, work and visit again.

Opportunities for towns and villages

While there are many challenges facing towns and villages today, there are also opportunities. Seizing these opportunities can help to regenerate town centres. These opportunities include:

Climate adaptation – Bringing activity back to town centres can contribute towards the transition to a fair, low carbon and climate resilient society, allowing people to live closer to services and access sustainable modes of transport.
Remote work – The shift in working practices to hybrid or remote work creates opportunities for town centres to invest in remote working hubs and encourage more people to spend time and live in town centres.
Providing housing – There are many opportunities to make better use of space in town centres by increasing housing supply and providing a variety of housing types that vary in character, scale, and density.
Experience-led retail – Town centres have the opportunity to provide a more blended retail experience, not only as a place to access goods and services, but also where food and drink, leisure, entertainment, and cultural spaces offer more to do in the town centre.
Public space – Improving public spaces like parks, squares, gardens, and public streets can make town centres more pleasant places to be, improving quality of life and providing a place to rest and interact with others.
Sustainable transport – Creating easy local access to fulfil daily needs, including services and amenities existing within cycling and walking distance, will help to reduce traffic congestion in towns and villages.
Embracing cultural heritage – Many of our towns and villages are steeped in heritage, providing a link to our past. Projects to repair and conserve heritage structures in towns and villages can benefit the community while attracting tourism to the area.
Empowered, inclusive, and engaged communities – Local communities will play a key role in the decisions made about how to revive their local area through the use of community networks like Local Community Development Committees (LCDCS) and Public Participation Networks (PPNs).

Local authorities and Town Centre First

Every town is unique, which means the solutions for one town will not necessarily be the same in another. Local knowledge is important and will be key to the successful delivery of Town Centre First.

Local authorities will be drivers of Town Centre First at a local level, working in collaboration with Town Teams in each town. National support is provided to the local authorities and Town Teams from a National Town Centre First Office.

How to get involved with Town Centre First

Town Teams made up of local residents, community groups, businesses and other stakeholders will work with the local authority to develop a tailored Town Centre First Plan based on the strengths and challenges their town is facing. The Town Team will be supported by Town Regeneration Officers in each local authority, and funding will be available through the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund to support the implementation of these plans.

If you are a resident, community group, or business in a Town Centre First town (see the list below), contact the National Town Centre First Office at tcf@lgma.ie to find out more about the initiative or to find out about joining a Town Team.