Business supports by county

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

Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny is in County Hall on John Street, and every grant starts with a talk to one of its business advisers. Kilkenny County Council pays up to €7,500 over three years to a small business that opens in a unit empty for six months, where the rates bill is €5,000 or less.

Checked against the official sources on 3 October 2026.

Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny

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 Kilkenny office can and cannot fund.

Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny

Address
Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, R95 A39T
Phone
056 775 2662
Email
info@leo.kilkennycoco.ie
Website
localenterprise.ie/Kilkenny
How to apply
Signed application form, after a talk with a business adviser booked through the office's online request form. Fill in the office's online Request for Business Support form, or phone or email, and a business adviser discusses whether to take an application forward. You then send a signed application with a CV, quotes and any accounts, and an adviser meets you before it goes to the Evaluation and Approvals Committee. The office says applications can be sent at any time and must arrive at least a month before a committee meeting, but its page lists only 2025 meeting dates.
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 Kilkenny County Council offers

Commercial Premises Paint Scheme 2026

50% of the cost of the work, up to a grant of €450. The council's budget for the scheme was €10,000

Commercial premises anywhere in County Kilkenny, for painting the street-facing front of the building and traditional signage.

Application form, assessed and decided by the council. Queries go to Kilkenny County Council's Community Development section on 056 779 4920 or community@kilkennycoco.ie.

Closed. The closing date was 17 April 2026.

Details are from the council's 2026 Grants Booklet. The scheme's own web page was no longer online when we checked.

See the scheme on the council's site

Small Business Vacant Premises Incentive Scheme

A grant linked to the rates you pay: 75% of the rates at the end of year 1 (up to €3,750), 50% at the end of year 2 (up to €2,500) and 25% at the end of year 3 (up to €1,250). The most you can get is €7,500 over three years.

A new start-up or an existing small business expanding into a commercial premises that has been vacant for at least 6 months before the letting, with a yearly rates bill of €5,000 or less. You must be the rateable occupier, pay all council charges in full each year, and show tax compliance and your lease or ownership. You must not have traded in a similar business, or from a premises used for the same purpose, within 3 kilometres before you moved in. Other exclusions apply.

Expression of interest first, then a formal application, within 12 months of opening. Contact the Local Enterprise Office on 056 775 2662 or info@leo.kilkennycoco.ie, and a business adviser discusses how to apply. Each year's grant is paid once a full year's rates is paid and Revenue confirms tax clearance.

Open. The council's 2026 Grants Booklet gives the closing date as ongoing.

See the scheme on the council's site

Rates Incentive Grants Scheme 2026

8.3% of your 2026 rates invoice, not counting arrears, up to a maximum of €300

All ratepayers, if they pay on time. You had to pay the full bill, any arrears and any Property Entry Levy by the end of May 2026. Or you pay it all in 8 equal monthly direct debits from April to November 2026, or by standing order or another equal monthly arrangement that started in April 2026 and finishes by the end of November 2026.

You deduct the 8.3%, up to €300, from your 2026 rates invoice when you pay under one of the two options. Queries go to rates@kilkennycoco.ie or the Rates Section on 056 779 4209.

Running for 2026. Monthly payment plans that began in April must be completed by the end of November 2026.

See the scheme on the council's site

Kilkenny City Night Time Economy Diversification Scheme 2026, Call 4

Grants of €500 to €2,000, covering 100% of the cost, for new events after 6pm from Sunday to Thursday in Kilkenny city. There were streams for pubs and other licensed premises, for cafés and other unlicensed premises, for night tours, and for sporting, youth and age friendly groups. Call 4 closed at 5pm on 30 June 2026, for events between 19 July and 5 November 2026. Kilkenny city is one of nine places in the national Night Time Economy pilot.

See the scheme on the council's site

Vacancy strike off on commercial rates

The owner of a vacant premises can have up to 50% of the year's rates struck off, after paying the other 50%. The property must be available to let without finding a suitable tenant, or empty while alterations or repairs are done. Send the council's vacancy form with an auctioneer's letter or dated advertisements, or a contractor's certificate and builder's accounts.

See the scheme on the council's site

Calculator

What would the council take off your rates?

Pick the council and put in the yearly rates bill for the premises.

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LEADER funding in Kilkenny

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

Kilkenny LEADER Partnership

County Kilkenny

Open to expressions of interest. You can send one through its online portal, or post or drop a PDF or Word form into its office at 8 Patrick's Court, Patrick Street, Kilkenny. The KLP Board decides whether the project can go on to a full application.

Phone: 056 775 2111

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.

Kilkenny LEADER Partnership

County Kilkenny. Office at 8 Patrick's Court, Patrick Street, Kilkenny

Phone: 056 775 2111

Visit its website

Also in Kilkenny

  • The nearest New Frontiers programme for early-stage founders is at South East Technological University (SETU), Carlow and Waterford campuses (Xcelerate). The Waterford programme also has an incubator in Kilkenny.

Good to know in Kilkenny

Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny asks you to fill in an online Request for Business Support form before it sets up a meeting with an adviser. It holds free one-hour mentoring clinics each month with members of its mentor panel. Its autumn 2026 Starting a Business Programme has runs listed for 13 October and 3 November. Its committee page still shows 2025 dates, so ask the office when the next meeting is.

Kilkenny County Council's rebate for small Kilkenny firms moving into empty units pays 75%, 50% and 25% of rates over three years, up to €7,500 in all, where the bill is €5,000 or less and the unit was vacant for six months. You must apply within 12 months of opening. Its Rates Incentive Grants Scheme takes 8.3%, up to €300, off the 2026 bill of anyone who pays on time.

The council's Kilkenny paint grant for business frontages paid half the cost of painting a street-facing front or traditional sign, up to €450, and closed on 17 April 2026. In Kilkenny city, the Night Time Economy fund gave pubs, cafés, tour operators and groups €500 to €2,000 for events after 6pm from Sunday to Thursday, though Call 4 closed on 30 June 2026.

Kilkenny LEADER Partnership on Patrick Street runs both LEADER funding for Kilkenny projects and help with the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance. LEADER starts with an expression of interest, which its board reviews. Its social inclusion team gives information and business advice to people applying for the allowance or for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance.

What every business in Kilkenny can apply for

Paid service: business plan pack, €99

We can write the business plan for your allowance application

Starting a business in Kilkenny? 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 Kilkenny?

It is in Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, R95 A39T. 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 056 775 2662 or email info@leo.kilkennycoco.ie.

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

Not the main cash grants. The Feasibility, Priming and Expansion grants at the Kilkenny office are for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 employees, and its Priming Grant page 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). Mentoring, training, the council's grant for opening in a vacant unit and a Microfinance Ireland loan are the other options.

Does Kilkenny County Council give grants to businesses?

Yes. The Small Business Vacant Premises Incentive Scheme pays up to €7,500 over three years to a small business that opens in a unit vacant for six months, with a rates bill of €5,000 or less, and it has no closing date. The Rates Incentive Grants Scheme takes 8.3%, up to €300, off your 2026 rates if you pay on time. The Commercial Premises Paint Scheme paid up to €450 but closed on 17 April 2026.

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

Kilkenny LEADER Partnership, at 8 Patrick's Court, Patrick Street, Kilkenny (056 775 2111). Its social inclusion team works with people who want to start a small business, gives information and business advice through the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, and also helps people applying for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance. 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 Kilkenny?

Yes, for expressions of interest. Kilkenny LEADER Partnership takes them through its online portal, or on a PDF or Word form posted or dropped into its office. The KLP Board then decides whether your project can go on to the next stage. Individuals, businesses, social enterprises and community groups can all apply. Phone 056 775 2111 to talk to a Development Officer first.

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.