LEADER leads the way

EDITORIAL

THE importance of the EU LEADER Rural Development Programme in supporting a wide range of community and private enterprise projects in County Clare was highlighted this week when it was revealed that grant payments for the period 2009 to 2013 inclusive will add up to around €11 million.

According to Clare Local Development Company (CLDC), which administers the LEADER scheme, €3m has already been paid out locally since 2009, with a total of €5.5m actually approved. Over the next two years, a similar amount is expected to be approved, while some €2.5m is expected to be paid out to pre-approved projects this year.
A total of 135 projects all over the county have benefited from LEADER grants from 2009 to 2011 inclusive. The breakdown for approved grants is as follows: business creation and development, €1,325,443; economy and rural population, €1,447,896; enhancement of tourism activities, €442,663; village renewal, €547,000; animation, €244,990; rural heritage, €243,960; training, €229,584 and implementing co-operation projects, €40,500.
This level of investment helps deliver what are vital community infrastructures, both private and public. Small businesses, as well as community centres, clubhouses and playgrounds have turned to LEADER to help kick-start projects.
For people with flair and imagination who want to invest in their own community, LEADER is the organisation that can provide critical start-up funding.
According to Clare Local Development Company, since the scheme was inaugurated in 2009, €1.25m has been invested in enterprise, leading to the creation of at least 70 full-time jobs and the retention of hundreds of other jobs in established businesses.
However, it’s not a question of getting a straight handout. The potential investors have to submit a detailed proposal, which is closely scrutinised.
All private projects may be supported to a maximum of 50%, subject to specific ceilings. For example, grant aid of €100,000 will be allocated on the basis that the actual project is costing €200,000 or more, so that the LEADER grant levers at least a similar amount.
Where community projects are concerned, LEADER funding can be up to 75% of the cost and for some training projects, LEADER may provide 100% funding.
Taking all of the measures into account, it has been calculated that the €5.5m grant-aid approved since 2009 would have levered at least a further €2.5m in private and community funding, giving an overall spend of €8m in the county.
According to CLDC chief executive, Doirin Graham, “The Rural Development Programme presents significant opportunities for developments and sustainable job creation in rural areas, despite the economic challenges facing Ireland”.
This is quite true, in that outside investors are unlikely to give a second glance at many of the small villages and isolated outposts where LEADER has breathed life into fledgling enterprises. Similarly, community projects would have to wait a long, long time for funding but for LEADER support. For many communities and entrepreneurs, LEADER is their only hope.

Measures to save lives

THANKFULLY, the number of people who lost their lives on Irish roads last year was the lowest since records began in 1959. This is the sixth consecutive year that road deaths have decreased and the fourth where deaths have been at a record low.
This is evidence that the Irish Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) message regarding better driver behaviour is getting through, slowly but steadily. The RSA has also targeted cyclists and pedestrians, who were included among the 186 fatalities in 2011, in its campaign to reduce the carnage on our roads. Last year’s figure is 26 less than the previous year and less than half the 2001 figure of 411.
Back in 1959, when roads deaths were below 200, there were considerably fewer vehicles on the roads. When the huge increase in the volume of traffic is taken into account, one can appreciate the significance of the 50% drop in road deaths since the Road Safety Strategy 2007 to 2012 was initiated. When compared to the year before the introduction of the first road safety strategy in 1998, deaths have fallen by 59%.
The improvements achieved in road safety in recent years are highlighted in a TV campaign featuring Kilkee. Based on changing road use trends, over the past decade over 1,000 lives have been saved, equivalent to the population of the West Clare resort.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar said people are alive today as a direct result of better driver behaviour. “We must ensure that this good work continues and I would ask all drivers to keep up the good work.”
The minister has reiterated the fact that the Government has made road safety a key priority. New drink-driving levels introduced last year are to be followed by a raft of other measures, including 16 new penalty-point offences, which have provoked some degree of negative reaction.
Each penalty-point offence in its own right might seem punitive but, for example, if motorists were to drive around with delicate possessions not properly secured, people could be totting up the cost of a lot of breakages. Babies are the most precious and delicate gift anybody can have and it is only right that they should be protected by new safety measures, which prohibit rear-facing baby seats being placed in the front passenger seat that has an airbag. Tightening up on drivers and children not wearing safety belts makes sense, as does the imposition of points for using a motorcycle without a helmet or carrying a passenger without a helmet.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow to hear of 16 new penalty-point offences coming down the line but remember, it’s for the greater good. The last thing any family wants to see is a blue uniform on their doorstep; the bearer of awful news.
Without doubt, the new penalty-point measures will contribute to improved driving and, as a result, road deaths will be further reduced.