Business supports by county

Business grants in Carlow: your Local Enterprise Office, council schemes and loans

Local Enterprise Office Carlow is in Enterprise House on O'Brien Road, and its last closing date for grant applications in 2026 is 10 October, for the committee meeting on 19 November. Its grant forms are filled in online on Carlow County Council's consultation portal, after you meet a business adviser.

Checked against the official sources on 3 October 2026.

Local Enterprise Office Carlow

The Local Enterprise Office is the first stop for any small business. Training, mentoring and advice are open to everyone. Its cash grants are only for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 staff. What the Carlow office can and cannot fund.

Local Enterprise Office Carlow

Address
Enterprise House, O'Brien Road, Carlow
Phone
059 912 9783
Email
enterprise@carlowcoco.ie
Website
localenterprise.ie/Carlow
How to apply
Online forms on Carlow County Council's consultation portal, consult.carlow.ie, after a meeting with a business adviser. Ask for a meeting with a business adviser first, through the Business Advice Support form on the council's consultation portal or by phone. If your project may qualify, the adviser asks you to complete the Priming, Feasibility or Business Expansion application form, which is also on the portal, where you must register. The Evaluation and Approvals Committee usually meets every six weeks and gets the papers a week before each meeting.
Dates to know
Last closing date for grant applications in 2026: 10 October 2026 at 5pm. The office's page calls it a Thursday, but 10 October 2026 is a Saturday, so confirm the date with the office
Evaluation and Approvals Committee meeting for that round: 19 November 2026
Courses
Start Your Own Business courses and other training
Checker

Can your business get a LEO grant?

Four taps. The honest answer, and what you can use if the answer is no.

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What Carlow County Council offers

County Carlow Streetscape Enhancement Scheme 2026

60% of eligible costs, up to €1,500 excluding VAT, for a commercial property. A home gets 75%, up to €1,000 including VAT

Business owners and owners of commercial and residential property in the 2026 target areas: Staplestown Road and Tullow Street in Carlow town, Carrigduff and Rathvilly in the Tullow Municipal District, and Bagenalstown. The property must be occupied or actively marketed, so vacant or inactive properties cannot apply. Painting, repairs, removing old wiring and signs, new signs, outside lighting and window display design all count. You need the owner's permission for any works, and work done before you accept the offer is not covered. Premises that completed the scheme in 2024 or 2025 could not apply again.

Online application on the council's consultation portal. You need photos of the premises before and after the works, invoices showing the supplier's name, address and VAT or PPS number, and bank statements that prove each payment. Cash payments are not accepted. Queries go to the Economic Development team on 059 912 9783 or enterprise@carlowcoco.ie.

Closed. Applications closed at 5pm on Friday 13 March 2026.

The council says its shop front scheme is advertised in the first quarter of each year, and the target streets change. The 2025 round covered Burrin Street, Kennedy Street, Castle Hill and Castle Street in Carlow town, Hacketstown and Borris.

See the scheme on the council's site

Rates incentive for vacant premises: none found for 2026

We found no rates incentive for a new business opening in a vacant premises on the council's website for 2026. The council's 2026 vacancy scheme cuts the rates that owners pay on empty property instead (see below).

Business Support Grant Scheme 2026

A fixed amount off your 2026 rates bill, from €40 to €250 depending on the size of the bill. The council says this averages 8% to 11% of the bill

Ratepayers who occupied their premises on 1 January 2026. The grant is €40 on a bill up to €500, €70 up to €1,000, €120 up to €1,500, €170 up to €2,000, €220 up to €2,500 and €250 on a bill of €2,501 or more. You had to pay the 2026 bill and any arrears in full by 30 June 2026, or in six equal monthly payments by standing order, direct debit or another monthly arrangement before 30 September 2026.

No separate form is described. You deduct the grant when you pay, using the band chart and your 2026 rates bill. Queries go to the council's Income Department, County Buildings, Athy Road, Carlow, on 059 917 2488 or incomedept@carlowcoco.ie.

Closed for 2026. The last payment date, 30 September 2026, has passed.

See the scheme on the council's site

Rates abatement on vacant properties 2026

If your property is vacant, the council takes 100% off a 2026 rates bill of €5,000 or less. On a bigger bill, the first €5,000 is taken off in full and the rest is halved, so a €9,000 bill becomes €2,000 for a full year of vacancy, or less for shorter periods. A property that is partly vacant, or empty for part of the year because the business is seasonal, pays in full. The application form for vacant properties is on the council's commercial rates page.

See the scheme on the council's site

Christmas Lights Grant Scheme 2026

Grants towards buying, putting up, taking down and maintaining Christmas lights on public streets and in town and village centres, for community organisations, town committees and other eligible groups. Applications were open from 10 August to 18 September 2026, through the council's consultation portal.

See the scheme on the council's site

LEADER funding in Carlow

LEADER pays grants to rural businesses and community groups. In Carlow it is delivered by one local group, and their staff help you put an application together.

Carlow Local Community Development Committee, with Carlow County Development Partnership as implementing partner

The designated rural areas of County Carlow

Carlow County Development Partnership's website shows no open call or closing date for the 2023 to 2027 programme. Phone or email it to talk a project through.

Phone: 059 972 0733

LEADER on this group's site

Help with a business plan if you are on a welfare payment

If you are on a jobseeker's or other social welfare payment and want to start a business, a local development company helps you prepare the business plan for the enterprise allowances.

Carlow County Development Partnership

County Carlow. Head office at Askea House, Pollerton Road, Carlow, and the JETS Centre in Carlow town

Phone: 059 972 0733

Visit its website

Also in Carlow

  • The nearest New Frontiers programme for early-stage founders is at South East Technological University (SETU), Carlow campus (Xcelerate).

Good to know in Carlow

Local Enterprise Office Carlow runs most of its forms through Carlow County Council's online consultation portal, where you register once. You ask for an adviser meeting there, and meetings are held at Enterprise House on O'Brien Road or at one of the office's rural clinic locations. If your project might qualify, the adviser asks you to fill in the grant form, also on the portal. The last 2026 closing date is 10 October, for the committee on 19 November.

Carlow's yearly streetscape grant for shop fronts paid 60% of the cost, up to €1,500 before VAT, for commercial premises in the 2026 target areas: Staplestown Road and Tullow Street in Carlow town, Carrigduff, Rathvilly and Bagenalstown. It closed on 13 March 2026. The council advertises it in the first three months of each year, and the streets change each time.

The council's Carlow rates grant for businesses that pay on time took €40 to €250 off 2026 bills, and its last payment date has passed. We found no rates incentive in Carlow for a new business opening in an empty unit. Owners of vacant property get 100% off a rates bill up to €5,000, and half off anything above that.

LEADER grants in rural County Carlow are decided by the Carlow Local Community Development Committee and delivered by Carlow County Development Partnership at Askea House, Pollerton Road. Its website lists no open call or closing date, so phone 059 972 0733. The same company's JETS Centre in Carlow town helps people with self-employment, mentoring and the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance process.

What every business in Carlow can apply for

Paid service: business plan pack, €99

We can write the business plan for your allowance application

Starting a business in Carlow? We write the business plan and 12-month cashflow that an allowance or a loan application asks for.

  • Your business plan under the headings the Department of Social Protection asks for
  • Your 12-month cashflow, month by month
  • A prep sheet for the meeting with your adviser, and a guide to the form
€99Order my plan pack, €99See what is in the pack

€99 one-off, VAT included. You put in your figures and check your cashflow, then pay and answer the questions. A person prepares your pack within two working days. 14-day money-back promise. We cannot promise any funder will approve you.

Common questions

Where is the Local Enterprise Office in Carlow?

It is in Enterprise House, O'Brien Road, Carlow. It is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, closed for lunch from 1pm to 2pm, and closed at weekends and on public holidays. Phone 059 912 9783 or email enterprise@carlowcoco.ie.

Can a shop or cafe in Carlow get a LEO grant?

Not the main cash grants. The Feasibility, Priming and Expansion grants from the Carlow office are for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 employees, and its Priming Grant form says retail, personal services, professional services and local building services are not eligible. A shop or cafe can apply for the Grow Digital Voucher (50% of the cost, up to €5,000, after a Digital for Business consultant's report) and the Energy Efficiency Grant (75% of the cost, up to €10,000, after a Green for Business report). In Carlow both forms are on the council's consultation portal. Mentoring, training and a Microfinance Ireland loan are the other options.

Does Carlow County Council give grants to businesses?

Yes, but the 2026 rounds have closed. The Business Support Grant Scheme took €40 to €250 off 2026 rates bills paid in full by 30 June, or by monthly payments before 30 September. The Streetscape Enhancement Scheme paid 60% of the cost of painting and shop front work, up to €1,500, in the year's target streets, and closed on 13 March 2026. We found no rates incentive for a new business opening in a vacant unit.

Who helps with a Back to Work Enterprise Allowance business plan in Carlow?

Carlow County Development Partnership. Its JETS Centre in Carlow town, supported through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, offers help with self-employment, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance process, mentoring and funding. Phone 059 972 0733. Your Employment Personal Adviser at Intreo refers you, and the Department of Social Protection must approve the business in writing before you start trading.

Is LEADER funding open in Carlow?

Carlow County Development Partnership delivers the 2023 to 2027 programme for the Carlow Local Community Development Committee, in the county's designated rural areas. Its website does not list an open call or a closing date. Phone 059 972 0733 or email reception@carlowdevelopment.ie to ask whether your project fits and how to apply.

Where this comes from

Checked on 3 October 2026. We are an independent guide, not a government service. Closing dates and schemes change, so confirm with the office or the council before you rely on anything here.