DAERA Minister has welcomed the award of
£7.91million in grants to over 2,350 rural community
organisations and businesses over the past year.
The awards have been made through the Department's Rural Micro
Capital Grant Scheme and Rural Business Development Grant Scheme.
Minister Muir was speaking during a visit to Moneyslane Rural
Community Organisation, the recipient of a grant totalling £1,491
from the Rural Micro Capital Grant Scheme in 2025/2026 to
modernise their Community Hub.
Minister Muir said: “I am delighted that 1,048 Letters of Offer
for funding of £1.74million have been issued to voluntary
and community organisations throughout Northern Ireland from the
Rural Micro Capital Grant Scheme.
"The Scheme is a key initiative delivered through my Department's
Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Framework. It
supports rural community-led, voluntary organisations in
identifying and implementing projects that address locally
identified poverty, isolation, loneliness and health and
wellbeing issues.
“I was delighted to hear how Moneyslane Rural Community
organisation have availed of the Department's Rural Micro Capital
Grant Scheme over many years to enhance their facilities for the
local rural community. I express my sincere gratitude to the
committee and to all voluntary and community organisations across
Northern Ireland for their ongoing work in maintaining and
developing a wide range of opportunities and facilities for
people in local rural communities.”
Minister Muir also visited BWE Equestrian Ltd, a rural
micro-business in Ballyward, where he presented their Letter of
Offer of £5,850 from the Rural Business Development Grant Scheme
to enable the purchase of a ‘Shockwave' linear soil decompaction
machine.
Minister Muir said: “I want to take this opportunity to highlight
the significant investment of £6.17million, also from my
Department's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation
Framework, to 1,310 rural businesses through the Rural Business
Development Grant Scheme.”
He added: “It's been great to meet the staff of BWE Equestrian
Limited, a first-time applicant to the Scheme, and to hear how
the grant will help their business's sustainability and increase
their potential for growth. This is exactly the type of support
the scheme aims deliver across Northern Ireland.”
The Minister concluded: “Both the Rural Micro Capital Grant
Scheme and the Rural Business Development Grant Scheme are
important contributors to my commitment to build strong,
sustainable and diverse rural communities where people want to
live, work and invest.”
Notes to editors:
- The Rural Micro Capital Grant Scheme and the Rural Business
Development Grant Scheme were funded through the Department of
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs 2025/2026 Tackling
Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI) Programme budget.
- Micro Capital grants between £500 and £2,000 were available
through the Rural Micro Capital Grant Scheme to rural voluntary
and community organisations to implement projects to address
locally identified poverty and isolation needs.
- The Rural Business Development Grant Scheme awarded capital
grants of up to 50% of costs for capital items up to a maximum
grant of £7,500 to provide support to encourage rural businesses
to remain sustainable, invest in expanding their operations,
provide additional services, innovate, enter new markets and in
many cases create employment opportunities.
