€25 million in five years

Mayo to receive close to €25m in Leader funds


Anton McNulty

THE newly-restructured Leader companies in Mayo are to receive approximately €25 million in funding over five years in the largest ever allocation of funding under the Rural Development Programme.
The funding for the Rural Development Programme was announced last week by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, who outlined that the new programme was also treble the amount available in the previous programme. The two Leader companies in Mayo received a total of €22,901,901, with South West Mayo Development Company Ltd receiving €12,150,007 and the newly-formed Mayo North East Leader Partnership Company Teo receiving €10,751,894. Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta Teo, which covers all Gaeltacht areas nationwide, received €17,278,809, while Comhar na nOileán  Teo, which covers the offshore islands nationwide, received €4,642,415.
Each of these Local Action Groups will distribute funding to community groups and individuals in rural areas for a range of activities. These activities are varied and include diversification into non-agricultural activities, support for business creation, encouragement of tourism activities, basic services for the economy and rural population, village renewal and development, conservation and upgrading of rural heritage, and training and information.
Welcoming the increased funding, Mr Gerry O’Neill, CEO of South West Mayo Development Company Ltd, said that Mayo received around €8 million from the last allocation for 2000-2006, and the new allocation will broaden the scope of projects they can fund. He explained that communities can receive up to 75 per cent funding for projects and there is a funding ceiling of €150,000. He said that up to €500,000 extra can be applied for in exceptional circumstances but admitted that ‘they would be few and far between’. 
Under the Programme, 55 per cent of the funding will be provided by the European Union while the remainder will be provided by the Exchequer. However, Mr O’Neill said that because of guidelines relating to European funding, they could not provide funding to any project which also receives funding from the local authority. This, he feels, could cause complications for some communities.
“The changes to the programme include larger grants which should make it easy for community projects but new guidelines will prevent us from co-funding projects with the local authority like we used to. There have been some good projects supported by the Council and us but we won’t be able to do that because of regulations regarding European funding. The Department and the local authorities are trying to change that but if they succeed, it will take some time, and we are just better off dealing with it. We will just have to sit down with the Council and try and deal with it but it will cause complications for community projects,” he said.
Mr O’Neill explained that they have at least 150 enquiries on file from individuals and community organisations requesting grants and they will be writing to all of them in the coming weeks. He said projects will be dealt with on a one-to-one basis and the final approval for funding will be made by the company’s board.
The increased funding was also welcomed by Mayo TDs Beverley Flynn and Dara Calleary who said that the funding would be vital to continue to develop and maintain a vibrant community and sustain job creation in rural areas in Mayo.