Donegal County Council is looking to offer tax relief for the refurbishment of old buildings in Letterkenny’s historic town centre.
The council has made an application to the government under the Living City Initiative, which is designed to attract more people to live in historic town centres.
Responding to a question from Councillor Ciaran Brogan, council officials confirmed they submitted an application to government at the end of last month.
The application has been made under the Living City Initiative which is intended to provide tax relief to encourage people to live in and bring businesses back to the heart of town centres.
The Living City Initiative was originally to provide tax relief for regenerating city centres such as Dublin, Cork and Galway, and last year was extended to five regional centres, including Letterkenny and Sligo.
The submission for Letterkenny sets out how a potential Strategic Regeneration Area plan can be drawn up for the town, with a draft map outlining where the proposed tax relief would be most effective.
The submission will be considered by an independent expert before being referred to the Minister for Finance.
Council response in full:
Further to an invitation from the Department of Finance to propose a draft Strategic Regeneration
Area (SRA) for Letterkenny under the Living City Initiative, Donegal County Council made a
submission setting out a draft SRA for Letterkenny on Friday 30 January 2026.
The invitation followed an announcement by the Minister of Finance, in October 2025, of the
extension of the Living City Initiative to the five regional centres identified in the National Planning
Framework (NPF) of Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo. The initiative is already in
place in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny, with the scheme
extended until 2030.
The Living City Initiative (LCI) is a targeted tax incentive that aims to encourage people back to live in
historic inner-city areas and to encourage regeneration of the retail heartland of central business
districts.
The Donegal County Council submission set out the context, methodology and rationale for a
proposed Strategic Regeneration Area for Letterkenny, as well as draft SRA map, for consideration.
This submission will be considered by an independent expert who will make recommendations to
the Minister for Finance.
