This article is from page 10 of the 2014-07-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
CLARE Local Development Company (CLDC) are appealing to members of the public to join them on a protest rally which takes place in Dublin tomorrow, July 9.
The protest has been organised in an effort to prevent the administration of the LEADER scheme from being taken from CLDC, which is due to happen in January of 2015.
According to Doreen Graham, CEO of CLDC, the LEADER Programme in Clare has become a model for other programmes and has urged the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), to reconsider the change.
“This is the most successful LEADER model in all of Europe and it is community led. We don’t think that taking this out of the hand of the community and putting it in the hands of the state is a good move. It is retrograde step and it will dismantle something that has been working really well for years,” she said.
“LEADER has become a key part of the rural development of Clare over the years. A huge amount of relationships and expertise has been built up between the LEADER group and rural communities all over the county. It has worked really well in Clare and the county would be regarded, at national level, as one of the most successful LEADER counties.
“This is not broken. Most believe believe that this system is not broken and should not be dismantle. We have seen so many Clare communities coming from a situation where there was little or no development to a situation where they are delivering important projects for their areas. That is what this project has done.”
Anyone wishing to take part in the CLDC Dublin protest is asked to contact CLDC on 065 6866800 or email info@cldc.ie for further information.