Community projects around Dublin Airport set to benefit from half a million euro daa fund

Applications now open for Dublin Airport Community Fund 2026

daa, the operator of Dublin Airport, has announced that applications are now open for its Community Fund, with half a million euro (€500,000) available this year to support community and voluntary projects in areas neighbouring the airport.

The fund supports locally led projects that make a real and lasting difference across areas such as wellbeing, sustainability, sport, education and social inclusion. Over the past two years alone, funding from the Dublin Airport Community Fund has helped bring over 230 projects across a wide range of community ideas to life, from supports for local schools and sports clubs to environmental and heritage projects, wellbeing initiatives and programmes that promote inclusion and opportunity.

In recent years, the Dublin Airport Community Fund support has helped the following:

• Local schools and education initiatives – including programmes that support student access and wellbeing such as the outdoor garden project at St Nicholas of Myra in Kinsealy and Tyrrelstown’s Gaelscoil an Chuilinn added an outdoor sensory and playground fitness trail.
• Sports clubs and youth groups – providing equipment, facilities and opportunities, including supporting annual community sporting events such as the Dublin Community Games in Santry and the annual 5k Beach Race in Portmarnock.
• Environmental and biodiversity projects – led by local groups working to protect and enhance their areas with a wide range of residential community gardens and spaces throughout Ballymun and Santry, and initiatives such as the Swords Tidy Towns team, who produced new entrance signage and flower planters throughout the village.
• Community and heritage organisations – helping to strengthen local identity and community life, including supporting the reopening of the St Margaret’s community hall and the St. Margaret’s church improvement projects.

Applications for the 2026 funding round are open until Friday, June 5, and must be submitted through an online application portal on the Dublin Airport website. The move to an online system is designed to make the process simpler, more accessible and more transparent for those applying.

The fund is open to both new applicants and previous grant recipients, with eligible groups encouraged to apply early.

Speaking about the opening of the fund, Janine Davidson, Community Engagement Manager at Dublin Airport, said:

“The Dublin Airport Community Fund is about backing the great work happening every day in the communities around the airport. Over recent years, we’ve seen first-hand how funding can help local groups turn good ideas into projects that genuinely benefit people and places.”

“We’re delighted to open another funding round for 2026 to the value of €500,000 and to introduce this new, easier-to-use online application system. We’d encourage community and voluntary groups to apply early and to help spread the word so that as many local projects as possible can benefit.”

As part of the Community Fund, Dublin Airport also continues its long‑standing partnership with Dublin City University’s Access Programme, which supports 40 students each year, helping to widen access to education and opportunity.

The independently chaired Dublin Airport Community Fund is a core part of daa’s wider commitment to working in partnership with its neighbouring communities. In recent years, daa has invested over €25 million in the local area and communities, including one of the most generous noise mitigation and home support schemes in Europe, alongside funding for hundreds of local projects delivered by community and voluntary groups.

Further details on eligibility and how to apply are available at: www.dublinairport.com/corporate/environmental-social-governance/community-fund