National Rural Network

Coveney Welcomes Focus on Agri-Food Sector in Finance Bill 2012

CLynch — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:27:22 +0000

“Finance Bill 2012 builds on the Government’s commitment to the agri-food sector as announced in the Budget and features a number of new initiatives that will be of further benefit to a wide range of interests in the sector.”

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, has welcomed the publication of the Finance Bill. “The Finance Bill 2012, published today includes several significant measures which will benefit the agri-food industry, including:

New stock relief incentive for farm partnerships
Reduced stamp duty on agricultural land transactions
Restructured Capital Gains Tax retirement relief “

Date Released: 08 February 2012

Full Deatils :
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/pressreleases/2012/february/title,61130,en.html

Ireland Fund Grant Round is now open

CLynch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:42:23 +0000

Source: The Ireland Funds http://theirelandfunds.org/grant-round

Grant Round for Ireland Funds

The Grant Round will be open from 1st Feb – 30th March 2012.
Applications must be submitted online and must be received by 5pm on 30th March.
You will receive an email confirming receipt of your online application.

Grant Application form

For assistance with the Grant Round, please contact Sandra McDermott or Jordan Campbell.
The Ireland Funds in Dublin
T – (01) 662 7878
E – grantsinfo@irlfunds.org

The Grant Round

The objective of the Small Grants Round is to enable as many organisations as possible to fund new and innovative responses to social need. The amount of funding available will vary from year to year but is typically around $1 million. Applicants can apply online during the period in which the Grant Round is open, which is typically February – March.

Grant Round Funding

Organisations typically begin their funding relationship with The Ireland Funds when they are awarded a grant through the Grant Round. Donors occasionally identify projects through the Grant Round that they wish to support longer term through donor advised gifts and, while a relatively small number of organisations receive funding in this way, we continuously update our records on charities should a donor express an interest in supporting an area in which they are active.

Grant Round Funding Priorities

The Worldwide Ireland Funds accept applications for projects in the following areas:

Investing in Ireland’s Communities
Supporting a Shared Future for Northern Ireland
Providing Access to Education
Promoting Culture and Heritage
Assisting Disadvantaged Youth
Assisting the Elderly “Forgotten Irish”
Promoting Philanthropy in Ireland

Size of Awards

The maximum amount awarded is €20,000. The average award will be around €6,000 and there is no minimum award.

Evaluation

Projects will be evaluated and presented for consideration by the Board of Directors. Lobbying will lead to the disqualification of a grant application. The decision of the Board is final and we regret that we are unable to enter into conversations or correspondence regarding the decision of the Board.

We encourage applicants to seek feedback on their proposals by emailing the Grants Office staff at grantsinfo@irlfunds.org

You can also apply for funding from other Ireland Fund chapters

The Ireland Fund of Canada Funding Guidelines
The Ireland Fund of Great Britain Funding Guidelines

‘Heritage as an Engine of Economic Growth’ – Heritage Economic Seminar Programme

CLynch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:26:38 +0000

Source: Heritage Council

Date: Saturday, 3rd March 2012
Time: 9.30 am – 2 pm
Location: National University of Ireland, Galway

The Heritage Council is pleased to announce an innovative series of seminars designed to showcase the economic potential of the heritage sector at a local level. The Irish heritage sector supports over 30,000 jobs and contributes in excess of €1 billion to the national economy.

The programme of events is aimed at heritage practitioners, business people, innovators and entrepreneurs. It is designed to foster business networks and develop sustainable enterprise opportunities locally and nationally. It is hoped that the county workshops will support the sector’s continued development and reinvigoration.

The inaugural event will be held in Galway on the 3rd of March 2012 and throughout the country thereafter. Details of subsequent seminars will be posted on this website.

For more information about the workshops or to receive email alerts about the other upcoming events in your county please contact Siobhán McDermott at siobhan@heritagecouncil.ie, or 085 226 5040.

Building society, one village at a time

CLynch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:46:26 +0000

Source: Irish Times.com

Living in an eco village is about more than embracing a set of ideals during a recession, say residents of Cloughjordan – especially if it means finding a better and less expensive way to live

‘AT EXIT 23, turn left,” intones the satnav suddenly, as though jerked awake from 90 minutes of straight-road slumber by the spectacular view ahead. Driving against the morning rush, leaving the snaking jams of suited and booted Dublin commuters behind, from this crest in the road some 70 miles south of the capital, the car feels like it’s about to hurtle into a painting.

High and handsome, Devil’s Bit mountain rises up ahead, filling the windscreen until you disappear into it. Exit 23 feels like it might just take you to Middle Earth. Instead, it heads for Cloughjordan in north Tipperary, Ireland’s only eco village, hidden somewhere behind these hills. Its residents have taken a left turn off the main route in more ways than one.

“I think we both felt that if we stayed in Dublin, we could just see where our lives were going to go,” says Julie Lockett. She and her husband Joe Fitzmaurice were renting in Stoneybatter at the height of the boom. The dancer and the baker, who one day wanted a family, didn’t want to drag a hefty mortgage behind them all the way to retirement. Read more http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2012/0208/1224311455489.html

Development group encourages farmers to think outside the box

CLynch — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:56:10 +0000

Source: Kerryman.ie

NORTH and East Kerry Development have held a seminar aimed at teaching farmers to find new ways to earn money from their farms. The NEKD Farm Diversification Seminar held at Ardfert Community College last week attracted a large contingent of farmers from the surrounding areas.

The free seminar provided information on grant aid for farm enterprises, examples of successful entrepreneurial farming projects and guidance from experienced farm consultants. Guest speakers on the night included Brian Leslie, Business Editor with the Farmers Journal, and Marie Kelly of the JFC Rural Innovation Business Awards.

Among others on hand to provide advice were Anne Kissane of Kissane’s Sheep Farm in the Black Valley, which recently featured on RTE’S Nationwide programme and David Griffin of eco tourism product PODS Ireland.

NEKD LEADER RDP Coordinator Sean Linnane said NEKD currently has funding available to clients under research and development as well as capital grant aid and funding to provide training opportunities.

“We have a range of staff who can help process eligible applications. There is currently a budget of over €1 million available to viable projects in the North and East Kerry area and we would encourage farmers and farm families to look at diversification as an option to support their income,” he said. George Kelly from Listry, Stewart Stephens, and Sean Linnane of NEKD at the seminar on farm diversification held by North and East Kerry Development in Ardfert Community Centre.

North and East Kerry Development can be contacted on: Tel 066 718 0190 or www.nekd.ie

New website highlights Food from Fife

CLynch — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:29:40 +0000

Source: Scotland National Rural Network http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/en/node/4971

The Fife Food Network has launched a new website highlighting the very best of the region’s food, producers and places to eat. The Food from Fife website has a wide range of information including events listings, recipes and lists of places to buy and eat great local produce.

The Fife Food Network recently secured funding awards worth over £180,000 as part of a package involving Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government and the European Community LEADER in Fife programme 2007-2013.

Set up under chairman Toby Anstruther, of Balcaskie, and directors Viv Collie and Jimmy Wilson, the Fife Food Network has appointed a board of management with expertise from across the whole region.

Mr Anstruther said, “Visitors will be able to create their own food trails based around places of interest all over Fife, and there are sections relating to food news, local chefs and their recipes, and food history.

“Members all have their own pages, and we have signed up some of Fife’s best known producers.”

With the formal launch of the website the Network will be embarking on a full membership drive. The National Trust for Scotland, Fife Farmers Markets, and the prestigious Old Course Hotel, Resort and Spa are all currently in the process of signing up.

The network has already been involved in the production of thousands of copies of the successful Fife Larder, and its companion Fife Larder Food Map, as part of the very first regional collaboration with the The List Guides Scotland.

Updated reprints of both publications will soon be available.

The website can be found at www.foodfromfife.co.uk

For more information and membership details e-mail info@foodfromfife.co.uk.

Minister of State Shane McEntee Announces Ireland’s Closer Involvement in Tackling Forest Loss in Developing Countries

CLynch — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:41:08 +0000

Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, 30 January 2012

Ireland, as a demonstration of its commitment to sustainable forest management and to addressing the global forest loss and the impacts of climate change, has made a funding contribution of €150,000 to the European Forest Institute EU REDD, which supports better forestry management in developing countries.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is seeking to address deforestation and related issues through the REDD+ process. The aim of REDD+ is to provide incentives for developing countries to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and to foster conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. It is a process of halting and reversing forest cover loss, and one that Ireland has been very successful at, and continues to remain committed to.

Ireland’s restoration of forest cover has been underway for many decades, and is now at a stage where the sector is making a significant contribution to national economic, social and environmental wellbeing. The economic benefit of the forest sector is now over €2.2 billion annually, as a result of economic activity in harvesting, processing and selling wood products.

Minister of State McEntee said: “Ireland’s success in restoring forest cover and developing a vibrant and sustainable forest industry is not matched at the global level, where deforestation – the permanent removal of forest cover – is still a major issue, and contributes up to one fifth of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Large scale forest clearance is most acute in tropical and subtropical regions, where forest cover is being removed to make way for other land uses”.

In welcoming and announcing Ireland’s contribution to the EU REDD Facility, Minster of State McEntee said: “While my primary goal has been to secure the national afforestation programme for 2012, and which has now been successfully achieved, I am also very pleased that we are able, in common with many other EU Member States, to make a contribution to addressing the issue of forest loss in developing countries and the consequences on greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. We already contribute to tackling the issue through our bilateral aid programme and our contribution to the Global Climate Change Alliance. This new involvement in the EU REDD Facility adds to the national contribution. I wish the work of the EU REDD Facility every success and look forward to our closer involvement in the process.”

The National Trails Office / Irish Sports Council Invitation to Launch of Trail Development Guide and Seminar

CLynch — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:21:42 +0000

NTO – Invitation to Launch and Trail Management Seminar 28th February 2012

SERVE Wood Energy Seminar – Gurteen Agricultural College, 24th February 2012

CLynch — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:25:18 +0000

From: Seamus Hoyne, Coordinator – EU SERVE Project, LIT Tipperary

The SERVE project which is funded under the EU CONCERTO Programme is hosting a wood energy seminar at Gurteen Agricultural College, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary on Friday 24^th February. This event will present experiences and knowledge developed on biomass energy systems from EU Funded Projects – SERVE, FOREST and RBBD.

Bookings for the workshop can be made online at http://servecommunity.ie/news/serve-conference-and-events-20112012/serve-seminar-series/ or by contacting Maureen Ryan, Administrator, Development Unit, LIT-Tipperary, Nenagh Road, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Tel: (0504) 28112 / Email: Maureen.Ryan@LIT.ie . The cost of the seminar is €35 (a fee of €1.63 is applicable if payment is made online).

Government Publish Two Value for Money Reviews

CLynch — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:29:39 +0000

Source – Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine – 1st February 2012

Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, announced that the Government has published two Value for Money Reviews which are now available on the Department’s website, http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/publications/2012/

The two reports are:

1. Animal Welfare, Recording and Breeding Scheme for Suckler Herds (the “Suckler Cow Scheme”)

2. Fisheries Decommissioning Schemes 2005-2008

Full Article – http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/pressreleases/2012/february/title,61024,en.html