Irish Rural Link

Louise Lennon

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Press Release

Irish Rural Link Welcome Publication of new Rural Development Policy – Our Rural Futures

Irish Rural Link (IRL) – the national network representing the interest of rural communities has welcomed the launch today, 29th March 2021, of the new Rural Development Policy – Our Rural Futures 2021 – 2025.

IRL are hopeful that this policy document will set out a roadmap of how rural communities can develop over the next 5 years while also set out measures to recover from the impact of Covid-19.  IRL have engaged with the Department and Minister for Rural and Community Development over the past two years and at the first look of the policy document we welcome that some of the lessons learnt from Covid-19 will be built on.

Rural communities have a lot to offer in terms of how they want the future of rural to look like.  They also have key roles to play in addressing climate change and transitioning to a zero carbon society but communities must be engaged with every step of the way and supports made available to both households and communities who need to make the necessary changes to help achieve this.  Workers, some who have already lost their jobs and with more losing theirs in the coming years as we move away from peat harvesting must be engaged with early on in the process and have courses to upskill and/or reskill available to them before the jobs end. 

Incentivising people to live and work in rural areas must be met with proper investment in public services – such as a robust public transport system, high speed broadband, access to clean water and waste water systems and decent and affordable housing close to these services and local village are available.

IRL saw first-hand the importance of community in rural areas during the Covid-19 pandemic and the strength of people coming together to make sure no person was left behind.  This must be a pivotal aspect of this new policy document. A lot of this was made possible by more people working from home and we have long supported remote working as a way of creating jobs and building sustainable rural communities.  We welcome that more investment will be made into co-working spaces in rural areas, which will allow people to continue to work close to where they live once the pandemic is over.  We call for support from employers, whether SME’s or large multinational organisations to facilitate their employees to work from these hubs and have a better work-life balance.

The role of community and voluntary organisations in delivering health and social care services, such as meals on wheels, is critical to communities. Supporting the development of such organisations so they can continue to support people age in their communities must be a key factor in this new rural policy.  These services were crucial during Covid-19 and will remain crucial into the future as we address the needs of an ageing population.  

We welcome that one of the aims is to grow regional employment by creating an environment that supports entrepreneurship and enterprise growth in rural areas.  There are a lot of emerging sectors in terms of the green and digital economy where rural areas can be at the forefront of job creation.  Access to finance and funding continues to be one of the main barriers for entrepreneurs to start up a business but also to grow their business. This and other barriers to starting a business and how these can be addressed will be important to achieve this aim. Collaborations between entrepreneurs, business groups and universities/technological universities will be key over the next 5 years to ensure the creation of innovative new businesses and jobs in rural areas. 

The tourism sector has been one of the hardest hit by Covid-19 but is one of the key sectors in rural areas with a lot of communities depending on the sector for job creation. Supporting those businesses to recover from the pandemic must be a key priority but also making jobs in the sector more viable.  As the sector reopens there is an opportunity to make it more sustainable, ensuring communities can directly benefit while at the same time the environment and cultural and heritage sights are not negatively impacted by over-tourism.

While the policy document looks good on paper, the success of its implementation needs the political will from all of Government and policy cohesion with other Government policies. The measures outlined must be properly resourced with adequate budget allocations to ensure that all measures are realised within the given timeframe. There is also a responsibility on all of us to engage with different schemes and services that are available and make use of these to develop our local areas.

IRL look forward to working with the Government on the implementation of this policy.

The new Rural Development Policy is available on https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4c236-our-rural-future-vision-and-policy-context/ -Ends- 

For further information, please contact (anytime): 
Seamus Boland (Chief Executive) 086 2491153 or Louise Lennon (Policy and Communications Officer) 086 1069244

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RUBIZMO Café talks & virtual visits May 2021 session

UBIZMO Café talks & virtual visits
May 2021 sessions
 
Meet us every Tuesday at 11:00 AM CET!
 
REGISTER HERE


Creating or growing a sustainable business requires interaction, inspiration… and a lot of perspiration! But right now, some of these key ingredients are missing. Its why a European initiative identifying new opportunities for rural economies is launching an extensive program of online “café talks” and virtual visits open to all.
RUBIZMO has studied hundreds of high potential business models – and the conditions to make them successful. They are now making more of their insights available for authorities, associations, businesses and entrepreneurs for free to help fuel a green recovery for rural Europe.
A series of quick and easy to access 30-minute “Café sessions” and virtual visits is taking place every Tuesday 11-11:30 CET since November and to June 2021
The quick sessions are designed to fit in with even the busiest days; but anyone attending is invited to hang out for a virtual coffee and ask as many questions as they would like.
 
Join the RUBIZMO virtual Academy and network with our experts to discover new business ideas and take rural entrepreneurship to the next level!
 

WHEN: Every Tuesday from 11 to 11:30 AM CET (Brussels)
WHERE: Online (Zoom)

PROGRAMME
6th April- Camille Poutrin and Bruna Malinaro, Greenflex
What is carbon neutrality in agriculture?
 
13th April- VIRTUAL STUDY VISIT – Ecosystem Services (1h30 hours)
Dunhill Ekopark (Ireland)
Partnership for the Barycz Valley, Poland
 
20th April – Ola Petersson, RISE
Fossil free energy solutions of today and tomorrow
 
27th April – Tora Råberg, RISE
What is biochar and how to use it?

REGISTRATION
Participation is free of charge, however, please note that places are limited. Click here to register and save your spot!
 
 
WHAT IS RUBIZMO?
RUBIZMO is a European initiative working to foster sustainable growth and job creation in rural areas by discovering the vital ingredients for developing entrepreneurship and successful business models in high potential sectors such as food and agriculture, new bio-based value chains and services.
 
Learn more at www.rubizmo.eu


 

 
    
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 773621.

 

 



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Creating or growing a sustainable business requires interaction, inspiration… and a lot of perspiration! But right now, some of these key ingredients are missing. Its why a European initiative identifying new opportunities for rural economies is launching an extensive program of online “café talks” and virtual visits open to all.
RUBIZMO has studied hundreds of high potential business models – and the conditions to make them successful. They are now making more of their insights available for authorities, associations, businesses and entrepreneurs for free to help fuel a green recovery for rural Europe.



 




         This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 773621.     Twitter YouTube LinkedIn   Website

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Irish Rural Link CEO Assumes Role as President of EESC Diversity Europe Group

Irish Rural Link (IRL), the national network representing the interest of rural communities, is delighted to announce the appointment of its CEO Séamus Boland, to the role of President of Diversity Europe Group, which represents Civic Society on the European Economic Social Committee (EESC) based in Brussels.

Séamus assumed his new role during a virtual inaugural ceremony, today Tuesday 27th October 2020 and will hold the position until 2023. He is the first Irish person to be elected to this position since it’s foundation in 1956, as one of the EU’s institutions listed in the Rome Treaty.

The Diversity Group is made up of delegates drawn from each member state, representing sectors which include, community, agriculture, environment, consumers, social economy and various professions.

Séamus has been a member of the European Economic Social Committee since October 2011 and a former vice-president the Diversity Europe Group.

Poverty and the role of civil society organisations in combatting it will be the focus of Séamus’ term of Presidency.  It will be framed in the context of the European Green Deal and the impact of COVID-19 on our lives.  COVID-19 and the ensuing economic, social and health challenges will provide the framework for the Groups work. The Green Deal will provide the solutions.

In line with the overall topic of his Presidency, priorities of his term include:

  • Addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on society.
  • Implementing the Green Deal with all stakeholders, based on the Sustainable Development Goal “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”.
  • Involving civil society organisations, including European platforms, with the group’s work.
  • Including all group Members in the work as well as maintaining a strong gender balance.
  • Promoting the group’s work to other institutions and the wider public more efficiently.

The Press Release from EESC Diversity Group is available to read here

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The EESC is a consultative body that gives representatives of Europe’s socio-occupational interest groups and others a formal platform to express their points of view on EU issues. Its opinions are addressed to the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the Union’s decision-making process. The committee consists of Three sections: Employers, Trade Unions and Civic Society.


The presence of the Diversity Europe Group (Group III), alongside the Employers’ Group and the Workers’ Group, ensures that the Committee is a dynamic force and is empowered to give full voice to the concerns of the various social, occupational, economic and cultural organisations that make up civil society in the Member States. In line with the changes introduced in the Lisbon Treaty, Group III is made up of “other representatives and stakeholders of civil society, particularly in the economic, civic, professional and cultural field”.

The unique feature which forges Group III’s identity is the wide range of categories. Its members are drawn from farmers’ organisations, small businesses, the crafts sector, the professions, social economy actors (mutualities, cooperatives, foundations and non-profit associations), consumer organisations, environmental organisations, and associations representing the family, women’s and gender equality issues, youth, minority and underprivileged groups, persons with disabilities, the voluntary sector and the medical, legal, scientific and academic communities.

The shared goal is to achieve real economic, social and participatory democracy in the EU. In fact, the Group III motto is “Achieving real participatory democracy in the EU, through civil dialogue” and the ethos underpinning its activities fall under three pillars:

  • Diversity in democracy
  • Consensus building
  • European civic engagement- local action

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Earlier this year, Pobal prepared a webpage containing guidance on how community and voluntary groups can apply the prevailing public health advice to their own activities.  This resource remains available and has been updated to reflect the continuance of public health measures:  The page contains step-by-step guidance on how community and voluntary groups can prepare to manage any risks associated with their activities and premises (where applicable) Please see link to page below https://www.pobal.ie/reopeningyourservice/ This resource can be used to assess your own needs individually and ensure that operations are in line with the various levels of measures laid out in the National Framework for living with Covid-19. This framework outlines restrictions that will apply to many of the activities and services offered by community/voluntary groups, e.g. indoor and outdoor events, sports facilities, childcare, cultural venues etc. Further details of the levels in the framework can be found here: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/resilience-recovery-2020-2021-plan-for-living-with-covid-19/  This is a link to an at-a-glance graphic guide to the levels as well as links to sub-pages concerning the restrictions and advice relevant to each level.                                 

https://www.irishrurallink.ie/pobal-guidance-on-how-community-and-voluntary-groups-can-apply-the-prevailing-public-health-advice-to-their-own-activities/

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IRL’s Response to Programme for Government

Irish Rural link welcome the commitments in the Programme For Government to rural communities.  We need to learn from the positive aspects of the Covid pandemic and build on these for e.g. the advantages of remote working, the value of rural volunteering and the value of such services as meals on wheels and other essential community health and social services.  

You can read the full response here