Galway Bay fm newsroom - House-hunters willing to restore and live in older buildings in rural towns and villages across the county are set to benefit from a government plan due to be unveiled this lunchtime for the country's 600 towns and villages.
The plan aims to support sustainable communities, support enterprise and employment, maximise rural tourism and recreation potential as well as improve rural infrastructure and connectivity.
The scheme has a 60 million euro national price tag and will also involve the development of an Atlantic Economic Corridor to promote more balanced regional development.
The IDA-led development of a new advance building in Galway is also listed in the plan.
The Government also hopes foreign direct investment can be increased by up to 40 percent in the West by 2019.
Other actions would see the introduction of a Marine Development and Investment Strategy for the Gaeltacht as well as a push to enact the Technological Universities Bill with particular reference to regional bases such as GMIT.
Jim Connolly from Rural Resettlement Ireland says getting people to move into rural areas to restore houses isn't as simple as signing up for a makeover project.
However, Seamus Boland of Irish Rural Link is hopeful the plan will work.
