Clarina Ballybrown

We have recently completed a comprehensiveCommunity Development Plan for Clarina Ballybrown Community Council in Limerick. The Plan can be downloaded here.

Coleman Heritage Centre

We were involved with the Coleman Heritage Centre from the very start when the Centre was located in the old creamery on the current site. We worked with the committee to prepare a Business Development Plan, which was used to secure funding to finance the construction of the new state-of-the art facilities.

We still work very closely with the Centre providing management support, strategic planning services and training to staff.

Kinlough Community Council

We've been working with the Kinlough Community Council for over 15 years, providing support to the committee in the planning and implementation of several community development projects. Included in these were the re-construction of the Courthouse (now one of the most highly regarded restaurants in the Northwest), self-catering apartments, Kinlough Museum, Café and community meeting rooms.

Currently we are working with the Council on one of the most exciting community-based projects to be mooted for Leitrim. It involves the re-development of 17 acres of land owned by the community council to provide recreational facilities for the community (Kinlough is one of the fastest growing villages in the Northwest.) The project is of particular importance because it represents a new departure for community development in the region - in other words, it is not aimed at constructing a "bricks and mortar" recreational facility for tourists, but rather at developing a passive and active amenity that will encourage the community to re-engage with the local environment. (If it encourages visitors to the area, all the better.) Projects that have been identified for inclusion are woodland amenities, a heritage trail, natural amenity features, open space & play areas. To download a discussion document that we prepared for use in the strategic planning for the project with the community council click here.

Killinagh Community Council

Killinagh is the name of the townland in which the border village of Blacklion, Co. Cavan is located. Following years of negative impact from the Northern troubles, the local community development group wanted to implement a number of projects aimed at regenerating the village. We worked with the group over six years to work on a number of Feasibility Studies and Business Development Plans. The first of these was a study into the feasibility of building self-catering facilities aimed at attracting anglers to the area. The second was a study into the feasibility and potential development of an enterprise centre, to be located in the village. The third was a study into the possible uses and re-development of the Market House in the centre of the village. The Plans that arose out of each of these projects were used to negotiate with potential funders (such as PEACE, IFI, Cavan CEB and Enterprise Ireland) and, we are pleased to say, all three projects have been successfully completed and have formed a major part of the social and economic regeneration of the village.

Community Directory

Our unrivalled experience with community and voluntary groups in the BMW region has led us to work closely with public agencies working within community development. One example of this was the community directory which we prepared for the Office of Community and Enterprise in Sligo. The aim of the directory was to develop a list of all community and voluntary groups in County Sligo. This involved contacting over 700 groups in the County and collating a database of names, contacts and areas of interest which could be made available online and by printed publication. The resulting database and printed booklet is available from the Office of Community and Enterprise in Sligo.

MSRRDC Strategic Planning

MSRRDC refers to the LEADER/NRDP company Mid South Roscommon Rural Development Company Ltd. In 2004, the MSRRDC wanted to identify the potential development support needs of its funding region. This was an enormous task that would require strategic planning exercises to be carried out with 17 different geographic areas (9 parishes sub-divided into 17 areas.) We were appointed to undertake the assignment, based upon our knowledge of community development and the fact that we possess the resources to be capable of carrying out an assignment of this scale. The Strategic Planning exercise entailed meeting with all 17 areas individually to introduce the process- each area was represented by several community groups and representatives. We then developed a social & community questionnaire that was agreed on and approved by each area. In association with each area we distributed 10,000 questionnaires in total among the local population. We collated the results and presented them to each of the 17 communities. While there were many similarities, the results from each community were based mainly upon the particular needs of the local area. Finally, we worked with each community to develop a Strategic Plan for future development, based upon priorities, needs, costs and timescales. These Plans have already played a significant role in community development within the Mid South Roscommon area.