Helping Rural Wicklow Develop

The period between 1999-2000 was a very active and successful period for the Partnership, which allocated all of the available funding allocated totalling £2.819 million pounds under the Leader Programme which is now drawing to a close. Stemming from this success a new LEADER and National LEADER programme is currently being planned with an allocated combined funding of £55 million pounds.

In total 265 projects were assisted by the current funded Leader programme with 66% of the allocations supporting community groups. The Halls Programme alone has invested £498,848 pounds in building or refurbishing 20 Community halls around the county. Another £382,000 pounds went to the development of thirteen IT centres around the county with 260 people receiving their European Computer Driving Licence through the facilities with another estimated 2,500 people actually using the centres.

Another positively received programme was the launch of the WIN or Wicklow Information Network last July which in association with FAS has helped 46 trainees currently involved in various programmes in the IT centres. Grants allocated to these programmes ranged from £150 pounds to £2,400 pounds.

On the heels of this success comes another initiative under the banner of the Wicklow Communities Networking programme which shares knowledge with other groups throughout the county and tackles issues together. The group has been recognised as a vehicle from which local community representatives can become much more involved in new local government structures. A detailed breakdown of the WRP's grant assisted schemes and associated projects is available in their 1999-2000 annual report.