The chairman of Irish Local Development Network has praised how Local Development Companies responded to Covid-19.
Jim Finn, Tipperary native and host of Ag Report on Tipp FM, was speaking at the ILDN AGM yesterday.
Finn said “I wish to pay tribute to all our voluntary boards and staff who adapted and met the challenge of COVID19 head-on.
“Before the State began to mobilise its response for communities – our people were in the field providing essential supports to those most in need. As the State response evolved through the Community-Call, you were to the front in leading the and co-ordinating the bulk of the services provided.”
In his address, the Chairman also called on the Government to progress the five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector stating:
“In Ireland 2019-2024 – Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities commits that Community and voluntary organisations will be supported with appropriate funding models for the supports and services they deliver in partnership with Government, creating greater financial certainty and sustainability, improving capacity and effectiveness, and ensuring
viability of services for communities.
“The delivery of this strategy has been underlined in the 2020 programme for Government and we hope to see this action progressed as a matter of urgency.”
Among the speakers at the event were Fiona Higgins from IBEC, who spoke about the HR implications of Covid-19 for Local Development Companies.
Andrew Forde from the Department of Rural and Community Development also was on-hand to speak about the ‘Our Rural Future’, which Minister Heather Humphries announced earlier this year.
