This article is from page 27 of the 2007-04-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
Wer WYONE Le there are a lot of representatives from the community on the Doonbeg Community Development Company it was important that everyone was
asked to give their views.
“In order to keep ideas fresh we need to go back to the people to get a broad sense of the issues,” she said.
“T think it 1s important that people have their say. There will be other issues that we won’t be aware of or haven’t thought of.”
She said that this was the ideal op- portunity to present the issues to the election candidates.
The PRO said it was also important that the potential TDs saw that there was an active community group, which was “a catalyst for ideas and a vehicle for delivering projects”.
The availability of such a group would ensure that grants could be located to the area for use on com- munity projects.
Among the issues already raised in the growing and changing communi- ty is the future planning and develop- ment of a rural community.
“We now have large housing estates and we need to be aware of their af- fect on a small community. It is very difficult for a community group. We want the community to survive and grow and at the same time it can’t be over run because the services aren’t there and the community spirit could be lost.”
McInerney said that concerns have been raised regarding holiday homes and the need to cater for the people that live in the area all year around.
A number of the issues raised to date have been unique to Doonbeg, but many others reflect concerns in
communities across Ireland.
Included is the need to protect the local post office and its service and the work of the FAS community em- ployment scheme.
“We want to be proactive, rather than reactive,’ she said. Anyone wishing to contribute to the docu- ment can do so by submitting his or her ideas in writing to the Doonbeg Community Development office lo- cated in the Community Centre be- fore April 18. “We will try to encom- pass aS much as we can,” said Ms McInerney.
The “manifesto” will be sent to all the Clare candidates and distributed to all the houses in the community. The candidates will then be invited to meet the community.