IMSA welcomes €9 million funding package for community groups

The Irish Men’s Sheds Association warmly welcomes this afternoon’s announcement of funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development. The €9 million package revealed by Ministers Heather Humphreys and Joe O’Brien will go some way in helping our sheds and many other community groups to bounce back from this dire pandemic, and in repairing some of the damage that Covid-19 has inflicted on the men’s shed movement nationally.

We hope that each of our 360 plus sheds across the Republic of Ireland will be successful in receiving a significant portion of this funding, as there is not a shed in the country that hasn’t suffered desperately from the lack of fundraising opportunities during lockdown. Having been sanctioned to reopen in recent months, many of the sheds are still only making a tentative return at the moment while some don’t have the resources to come back at all.

“Today’s announcement has come as good news, and a relief, to the thousands of men across the country who rely on our services” says Enda Egan, CEO of the Irish Men’s Sheds Association. “Our research carried out in 2020 found that 55 sheds were in severe danger of not reopening post-pandemic, and indeed that is now proving to be an accurate picture of the current shed landscape. It is impossible to describe what a tragedy it would be for any more of those shed closures to come true. All sheds are a lifeline to the men who attend them and their surrounding communities. That lifeline cannot be taken away. We are delighted that the government has given recognition to the sheds by providing this crucial financial support”.

-ENDS-