Contracts to the value of €468,000 in LEADER projects have been signed over the past few weeks in Cork County.
The first contract to be signed in the County was by the Implementing Partners Avondhu Blackwater Partnership CLG for the construction of and commissioning of a specialised Cheese Dairy at Bo Rua Farm, Ballynoe which was eligible under the LEADER theme of Enterprise Development. This will enable Bo Rua Farm to scale up and commercialise their farmhouse cheese utilising the Dinneen family farm Montbeliarde cows whose milk is used in traditional French cheese production.
Other projects include the development of playgrounds in Inniscarra Community Centre, Grenagh and Innishannon plus a project involving the erection of street name plates in Dunmanway.
Mayor of Cork County Cllr. Declan Hurley commented: “Cork County Council is delighted to be associated with these projects which will benefit communities greatly and play a central role in job creation.”
In addition to the above projects, there are 24 further projects to the value of approx €1M approved by the Local Action Groups (LAGs) of North/South & West Cork in recent days which are now going through the final steps prior to issuing of contracts.
Tim Lucey, Chief Executive of Cork County Council explained “The LEADER programme is a European Union initiative to support rural development projects initiated at local level in order to revitalise rural areas and create jobs. Overseen by the Department of Rural & Community Development, funding to the value of €13.93M has been allocated to Cork County over the five year period.”
This funding is allocated as follows:
North: € 5,091,845
South: € 3,831,303
West: € 5,015,674
Attending the photocall for the first LEADER contract signed in Cork County, are from left to right: Valerie Murphy, CEO of Avondhu/Blackwater Partnership CLG; David Foley, Avondhu/Blackwater Partnership CLG development officer; Kay Keegan, chief officer of Cork county LCDCs; Tom Dineen of Bo Rua Farm; Cllr Gerard Murphy, chair of North Cork LCDC and Norma Dineen of Bo Rua Farm.
Picture: David Keane.
Decisions on LEADER funding are made at a local level by the three Local Action Groups (LAGs) in North, South & West Cork which are a sub group of the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs). Cork County Council are the financial partners with the Department of Rural & Community Development for this programme. A Local Development Strategy forms the framework for decision making.
The programme is implemented on the ground by six Implementing Partners, namely: Avondhu Blackwater Partnership CLG, SECAD Partnership CLG, Comhar na nOileán CTR, IRD Duhallow CLG, Ballyhoura Development CLG and Údarás Na Gaeltachta.
The LEADER programme launched in Cork in December 2016, with invitations for Expressions of Interest. A total of 469 Expressions of Interest have been received up to end of November with a combined value of €17,436,018.
