Rural Dev (Leader)

The LEADER Initiative (Liaisons entre actions de developpement de l’économie rurale) was established by the European Commission in 1991. It was designed to aid the development of sustainable rural communities following the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Initiative (or LEADER I) became available in Ireland in 1992 and 17 Groups were selected for participation in what was essentially a piloting of the Initiative. This saw the inception of the ‘bottom-up’ approach to rural development, with the implementation of business plans and decisions on funding being made at a local level on projects.

LEADER II commenced in 1994. It extended the Programme to all rural areas in Ireland and was delivered by 34 Groups. While LEADER I had been a pilot initiative, LEADER II was designed to complement strategy for rural areas in the National Development Plan 1994-99. In addition to increased funding and coverage of all rural areas, emphasis was placed on the development of the acquisition of skills and improvements to the animation and capacity building levels to ensure delivery of the business plan for the area.

LEADER continued in the 2000-2006 round of EU funding through the LEADER+ Community Initiative and the Area Based Rural Development Initiative (a sub-measure of the Regional Operational Programmes). Again, Groups operated in all rural areas of the country, with 35 Groups and 3 National bodies delivering the Programmes.

Rural Development Programme 2007-13

Funding towards LEADER-type activities in the 2007-2013 round of EU funding is part of the broader Rural Development Programme for Ireland 2007-13. This Programme was agreed by the EU Commission on July 24th 2007, it contains four Axes and has a budget of €5.778 billion over a 7 year period of which €2.339 billion will be funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural development (EARDF) and €3.438 billion by the National Exchequer.

Axes 1 and 2 of the Programme (on-farm measures) are the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Axis 1 deals with Competitiveness and Axis 2 with improving the environment and the countryside.

Axes 3 and 4 contain the funding available for the delivery of LEADER-type activities, which at €425.4m is almost treble the funding of €150m for the previous LEADER round. This additional funding is a realisation by the Commission of the need for greater funding for rural development to be allocated to non-agricultural supports. Axes 3 and 4/LEADER-type funding now accounts for 10% of the E.U. funding for rural development under Ireland’s Programme.

The focus of Axis 3 of the Programme is on quality of life and diversification and the Government has decided that the measures it contains will be delivered using the LEADER methodology. This Axis is relevant to all rural dwellers, including farmers, particularly in view of the growth in part-time farming. The challenges in the wider context include the provision of alternative and suitable employment opportunities for people living in rural areas and a range of services that people now want and expect locally. In the Programme, actions centred on the wider rural community such as the development of rural enterprises based on local natural resources, tourism, village enhancement and environmental initiatives will be delivered in a manner that addresses these challenges and complements on-farm measures. The measures in the Programme remain consistent with the 1999 White Paper on Rural Development and its commitments relating to the economic and social well-being of rural communities.