Sustaining rural businesses in focus for Rural and Community Development Committee

The meeting starts at 10:30 a.m. in Committee Room 4. It can be viewed live here and on Android and Apple devices using the Houses of the Oireachtas app.

Five witnesses are scheduled to appear from the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN), an alliance of 49 companies that drives €330 million worth of economic activity annually in rural areas, including via the LEADER programme. They are:

• ILDN Vice Chairman Eamonn O’Reilly, chief executive of North East West Kerry Development; 
• Jim Finn, chairman of North Tipperary LEADER Partnership; 
• Martina Earley, chief executive of Roscommon LEADER Partnership; 
• Declan Rice, chief executive of Kilkenny LEADER Partnership; and 
• ILDN Manager Joe Saunders. 

Separately, Dublin City University lecturer Dr. Senan Cooke will present key concepts and lessons from his new book, The Enterprising Community: A Bottom Up Perspective on the Capacity Within Communities to Regenerate.

“Creating an environment where sustainable rural enterprise can flourish is crucial to the well-being of rural Ireland,” said Committee Chairman Joe Carey TD. “Thursday’s witnesses all have experiences that can help identify the path to a brighter future, to an Ireland where the next generation is empowered to create novel new avenues of employment, creativity and industry in small towns, villages and farms.”