Local Enterprise Office Offaly
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 Offaly office can and cannot fund.
Local Enterprise Office Offaly
- Address
- Offaly County Council, Áras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, R35 F893
- Phone
- 057 935 7480
- LocalEnterprise@offalycoco.ie
- Website
- localenterprise.ie/Offaly
- How to apply
- Online portal, starting with a Grant Expression of Interest form. Read the guidelines for the grant, then fill in the Grant Expression of Interest form on the office's online portal. The office says a member of its team will be in touch within 10 working days to say whether you can apply. Once a full application is in, a staff member meets you and prepares a file for the Evaluation and Approvals Committee, and the office says the process normally takes 6 to 8 weeks.
- Dates to know
- Priming and Business Expansion Grant applications close on the 1st of each month, for the following month's Evaluation and Approvals Committee. There is no meeting in January or August.
Next closing date under that rule: 1 November 2026, for the December 2026 meeting - Courses
- Start Your Own Business courses and other training
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 Offaly County Council offers
50% of the cost of eligible works, including VAT, up to a maximum grant of €2,500
Independent businesses, not part of a franchise or chain, with a street-facing premises on Columcille Street or William Street in Tullamore. Owners can apply, and so can tenants with the owner's consent. Rates must be paid up to date or on an agreed payment plan. Priority goes to businesses that are trading. Painting, new traditional or contemporary shopfronts, wooden fascia signs, removing clutter and neon signs, and canopies or awnings were all eligible.
An expression of interest by email to the Tullamore Municipal District, then a hard copy application posted to the Senior Executive Officer, Municipal District of Tullamore, Town Hall, Cormac Street, Tullamore, R35 WV59, with photographs, drawings of the proposed works, materials and colours, and a contractor's written quote. The grant is paid after the work, on paid invoices and bank statements, and cash payments do not count.
Closed. Expressions of interest closed at 3pm on 20 July 2026 and applications at 3pm on 4 August 2026. Approved works must be finished and claimed by 26 November 2026.
The council's 2026 budget set aside €20,000 for a shop front scheme. We found only this Tullamore pilot, and no 2026 shop front grant for Birr, Edenderry or other Offaly towns. The council says the pilot will inform schemes in future years, if funding allows.
75% of rates waived in year 1, 50% in year 2 and 25% in year 3. The rest of each year's rates must be paid in full within that calendar year.
A new business that occupies a previously rated commercial premises that has been vacant for at least three years. It does not apply if the premises was occupied at any point in the previous three years. Betting shops, vape shops, coffee shops, fast food outlets and large multiples are excluded.
We found no application form or scheme page on the council's website. Ask the council's Central Revenue Collection Department on 057 935 7408 how to apply before you sign a lease.
Adopted by the council on 15 September 2025 for new businesses from 1 January 2026. No closing date is published. Council minutes from June 2026 record a further briefing on the scheme, so ask whether the terms have changed.
5% of your 2026 rates, up to a maximum of €500
Ratepayers with annual rates under €10,000 who paid the 2026 bill in full on or before 30 September 2026. Larger ratepayers do not get it.
The council's budget describes it as a discount on bills paid in full by the date. We found no application form.
Closed. The payment date was 30 September 2026.
For owners rather than tenants. Where a commercial property is vacant and available to sell or rent, or is undergoing significant renovation, the council reduces the rates by 100% if the rates are under €20,000, and by 50% if they are higher. The council made no change to this for 2026.
The council sought expressions of interest for a long-term lease of a vacant 1,200 square metre industrial unit beside the former West Offaly Power Station, repurposed with EU Just Transition Fund money. Rent was quoted at €21 to €43 per square metre a year, retail uses were not considered, and applicants had to show new green jobs, especially for former peat communities. Expressions of interest closed on 16 September 2026.
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 Offaly
LEADER pays grants to rural businesses and community groups. In Offaly it is delivered by one local group, and their staff help you put an application together.
Rural areas of County Offaly
Contact the company first so it can check your project is eligible and guide you through the next steps. The 2026 targeted call, for community groups' IT and audio-visual equipment, closed to expressions of interest on 7 September 2026.
Phone: 057 932 2850
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.
County Offaly. Offices in Tullamore, Edenderry, Birr and Banagher
Its enterprise support is free.
Phone: 057 932 2850
Also in Offaly
- The nearest New Frontiers programme for early-stage founders is at Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone campus (Midlands Innovation and Research Centre), delivered jointly with Maynooth University for the Midlands and Mid-East.
Good to know in Offaly
Local Enterprise Office Offaly starts every grant with an online expression of interest, and replies within 10 working days. Priming and Business Expansion Grant applications close on the 1st of each month for the next month's Evaluation and Approvals Committee, with no meetings in January or August, and an appeal must be lodged within 90 days of a decision. The office says its information and advisory service is free, and its six-evening Start Your Own Business course on Zoom, from 20 October 2026, is also free, with priority for people from Offaly.
Offaly County Council adopted Offaly's rates waiver for premises empty three years from 1 January 2026. It takes 75%, 50% and 25% off rates over three years, but betting shops, vape shops, coffee shops, fast food outlets and large multiples cannot get it, and we found no application form online. Ratepayers with bills under €10,000 could get 5% off, up to €500, for paying in full by 30 September 2026. The Tullamore shopfront pilot in Offaly paid half the cost, up to €2,500, on Columcille Street and William Street, and closed in August 2026.
LEADER grants across rural Offaly come from Offaly Local Development Company. Its page lists grants of up to 50% for capital projects, with a maximum of €200,000, and up to 90% for analysis and development, with a maximum of €30,000. The company also runs Create Green, a product development programme for Offaly creative and artisan food businesses, which took expressions of interest until 21 September 2026.
Offaly is inside the EU Just Transition Fund area, but the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly says no further calls are planned after the START Scheme, which is only for local authorities. The fund's grant schemes for small businesses closed in 2024 and January 2025. For desk space, the council lists three co-working hubs supported by Local Enterprise Office Offaly: The Junction in Tullamore, eHive in Edenderry Town Hall and stream BIRR in Birr.
What every business in Offaly can apply for
- Microfinance Ireland loans for Offaly businesses: State-backed loans of €2,000 to €50,000 for businesses with fewer than 10 staff, start-ups included.
- the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance in Offaly: keep your welfare payment for two years while you start a business.
- the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance in Offaly: the same idea for people on Jobseeker's Benefit.
- the Grow Digital Voucher through the Offaly office: half the cost of software and digital tools for small businesses.
- the Energy Efficiency Grant for Offaly firms: help with the cost of cutting your energy bills.
- the Wage Subsidy Scheme for Offaly employers: an hourly subsidy when you employ a person with a disability.
We can write the business plan for your allowance application
Starting a business in Offaly? 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
€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 Offaly?
Local Enterprise Office Offaly is in Offaly County Council's offices at Áras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, R35 F893. It is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and closed for lunch from 1pm to 1.30pm. Phone 057 935 7480 or email LocalEnterprise@offalycoco.ie.
Can a shop or cafe in Offaly get a LEO grant?
Not the main cash grants. The Offaly office's Feasibility, Priming and Expansion grants are for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 employees, and its Priming Grant page excludes retail, personal services such as hairdressers, professional services and local building services. 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). The office says the Green for Business energy audit is free. Mentoring, training and a Microfinance Ireland loan are the other options.
Does Offaly County Council give grants to businesses?
A few. Its Rates Waiver Scheme takes 75%, 50% and 25% off rates over three years for a new business in a premises that has been empty for at least three years, though coffee shops, fast food outlets, betting shops, vape shops and large multiples are excluded. The 2026 early payment discount of 5%, up to €500, needed payment in full by 30 September 2026. The 2026 shopfront pilot covered two streets in Tullamore and has closed. Owners of vacant commercial property can get the rates reduced while it is for sale or rent.
Who helps with a Back to Work Enterprise Allowance business plan in Offaly?
Offaly Local Development Company (057 932 2850). Its Realities of Self Employment programme is free, runs over three mornings on Zoom throughout the year, and covers business plan writing, costing, finance and marketing. It is used to assess whether your business suits the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance or the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance. The Department of Social Protection refers you, and at the end you go back to the Department. The company's Enterprise Officer and your Department case officer must both recommend the business before a Deciding Officer makes the decision.
Is LEADER funding open in Offaly?
Offaly Local Development Company asks you to contact it first so it can check whether your project is eligible. Its page lists grants of up to 50% for capital projects, to a maximum of €200,000. The 2026 targeted call, for community groups, closed on 7 September 2026. Phone 057 932 2850 or email info@offalyldc.ie.
Where this comes from
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, contact page
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, the application process
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, Priming Grant and monthly closing dates
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, Business Expansion Grant
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, financial supports
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, Evaluation and Approvals Committee
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly portal, Grant Expression of Interest
- Local Enterprise Office Offaly, Start Your Own Business Course Evenings, October 2026
- Local Enterprise Offices, Grow Digital Voucher
- Local Enterprise Offices, Energy Efficiency Grant
- Offaly County Council, Adopted Budget 2026 (PDF)
- Offaly County Council, minutes of the September 2025 meeting adopting the Rates Waiver Scheme (PDF)
- Offaly County Council, minutes of the November 2025 budget meeting (PDF)
- Offaly County Council, minutes of the June 2026 meeting (PDF)
- Offaly County Council, commercial rates payment
- Offaly County Council, commercial rates notice 2026
- Offaly County Council, Tullamore Municipal District forms and publications
- Offaly County Council, Pilot Shopfront Enhancement Scheme 2026 guidance and application form
- Offaly County Council, expression of interest for The Dalton Centre, Shannonbridge
- Offaly County Council, co-working hubs
- Offaly Local Development Company, LEADER Programme 2023 to 2027
- Offaly Local Development Company, LEADER targeted call 2026
- Offaly Local Development Company, Realities of Self Employment
- Offaly Local Development Company, Create Green product development programme
- Offaly Local Development Company, contact details
- gov.ie, LEADER Local Action Groups contact details
- Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, EU Just Transition Fund open calls
- Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, EU JTF Community and Enterprise Grants Scheme (closed)
- New Frontiers, Technological University of the Shannon Athlone campus
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.