Cork County is one of six counties in the country to have permanent island communities, having 7 inhabited islands in west cork. Because of small populations and geographical remoteness, key infrastructure facilities and services are more expensive to support, and if dealt with exclusively in relation to their population numbers many of the essential services to their survival would disappear. Because of this, in 2009, the West Cork Inhabited Islands were designated as one of nine priority projects for the CDB in its current programme of implementation. An Interagency Group has been established which is led and chaired by Cork County Council. Its membership represents a broad cross section of islanders, local agencies and groups from Local Government/ Social Partners/ State Sector/ Local Development. The essence of the approach to this project is a co-ordinated approach to island development. The Principles recommended by the Interdepartmental Co-ordinating Committee on island Development underpin the work of the West Cork Islands Interagency Group.
Please check out the new West Cork Islands Website at
http://westcorkislands.com/
The Interagency group aim to achieve three strategic goals;
* To develop a socio-economic strategy and action plan for the West Cork islands;
* To have an established Community Council structure representing all West Cork islands
* To have a sustainable partnership approach to the islands through the establishment of a long-term interagency structure for the West Cork islands
The local West Cork Interagency Group was established in the spring of 2009 and work has commenced. To begin with, the groups and organisations involved put forward an audit of tasks as Collated Project Templates in August 2009 that their agency is committed to undertaking for the area. These formed the basis for discussion on common purposes and opportunities for co-operation, which culminated in the setting up of five working groups with their own tasks to complete in the following areas:
* West Cork Islands Integrated Development Strategy
* Islands Community Council
* Health and Social Services
* Tourism
* Economic Development
It is likely that these working groups and their Working Templates will change over time and each of the working groups is made up of members of the interagency group and other appropriate local representatives. Improved collaboration between public bodies working with communities facilities change and it is important to get the right people, with commitment, at senior level support, both of which exist on the west cork islands interagency group. A number of Successes have been achieved already and it important to acknowledge these.
The focus for interagency group for the first period has been in the drawing up of the Integrated Development Strategy which focuses on key local measures to address the development of the islands. It is currently on draft for public consultation and it is anticipated that the Strategy will be finalised during July 2010. An implementation Plan for the strategy is also published.
A number of Presentations about the work have been made to various bodies; in order to increase the profile of the islands and there are a number of Websites and Publications/Information that relate to islands that may be of interest and are listed for information.
For further information contact Breeda Murphy Tel: 021-4285526 or email: breeda.murphy@corkcoco.ie
Relevant Island Publications
Relevant Island Links
Relevant Presentations
Relevant Island Press Releases
