rish Rural Link, the national network representing the interest of rural communities is pleased to announce they will be holding their annual conference and annual general meeting on Friday May 1 in the Grand Hotel, Moate.
The focus of this year’s conference will be ‘The Future of Rural Towns and Villages’. The conference will allow participants to reflect on the many issues facing rural communities. Towns are losing Garda stations, bank and financial services, shops and pubs are in trouble, and for many young people job opportunities are scarce.
The conference will look at how the town of Moate is responding to these problems with help from students from NUIG who have been speaking to residents in the area.
Minister with special responsibility for rural economic development, Ann Phelan, will address the conference on the CEDRA report and its implementation.
The conference will hear how the town of Ferbane stood firm in the face of the Ulster Bank closure. It will also hear from the winner of the 2014 Tidy Towns competition on how communities can fight back and make their area a source of pride. In addition the conference will be addressed by Peadar Casey (Ogonnelloe Project ) and Philip Geoghegan (chairman Wicklow Uplands Council ).
