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| Ryan Howard |
By Allen Meagher
“We’re standing on the cusp of a huge opportunity here,” claims Ryan Howard, talking about Ireland’s potential to unlock EU funds for communities from 2014 onwards.
From 18 months
time, the European Commission (EC) proposes
just one “programming tool” for all structural funds.
In doing so, the EC has given official recognition and backing to a
process knows as Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) and Ireland is better
prepared than most to make use of the funding that’s been earmarked.
For a country to
have access – by the hundreds of million – it needs to have a network of local
action groups in place to channel the funding.
Leading the
field, Ireland already has a national network in place, namely the Local and
Community Development Programme (LCDP).
