South Kerry Development Partnership CLG
Local development company in operation since 1991, serving communities in southern County Kerry
South Kerry Development Partnership CLG wishes to recruit: Biosphere Officer
The position is full time (37.5 hours per week) and will be based at the SKDP Offices, The Old Barracks, Beaufort Village, Co Kerry.
To view the Job Advert please click: Biosphere Officer Job Advert
To view the Job Description please click: Biosphere Officer Job Description
Closing Date for Applications: Not later that 5pm on Friday, 6th March 2020.
SKDP has a vacancy for the position of a Rural Men’s Outreach Officer.
Closing Date for Applications is 5pm on Friday, 14th February
For full details please click Rural Men’s Outreach Officer
SKDP has a vacancy for the following position – CEO Secretary.
Closing date for receipt of Applications is 5pm on Wednesday, 12th February.
For full detail please click CEO Secretary Vacancy
Is your child anxious or fearful?
It’s an increasingly common concern for parents and SKDP is working to help those going through this via our Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP).
We are now offering a five-week course for parents, starting at 7pm on Monday January 20th at Killorglin Family Resource Centre.
* Using a very practical Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic (CBT) approach, this course will help you support your child.
* You will learn these CBT strategies from Noreen Horan and Kay O’Sullivan, who have over twenty years’ experience of working with families in the mental health area.
* The five sessions are on Mondays across January and February, and total cost is €30.
Places are limited so register your interest now!
Contact Mairead O’Sullivan on 087-9631935.
One of SKDP’s most popular events of 2019 was our Recruitment open day for the hotel and catering industry, with around a hundred job seekers attending and a third of them going on to secure employment with Hoteliers who attended! Also, our promotion of the event on Facebook beforehand became our most successful post of the year.
No wonder then that we’re looking forward to this year’s event. Our SICAP Employer Engagement & Enterprise Officer (Joanne Griffin) has already done most of the planning of the 2020 event. It’s happening February 6th and there are more details on Facebook on how prospective attendees can register.
Nollaig Shona – Happy Christmas!!
…to all who work with SKDP – from the individuals to community groups; organisations and local businesses to the many agencies locally, nationally and internationally…
We thank you for your co-operation and engagement with us over 2019 (and indeed over the decade!) in developing your South Kerry communities; making them better places to live, work in and visit.
To all of you, and to everyone in the local region, hoping you have a pleasant Christmas break and a prosperous 2020! We look forward to working with you then.
Noel Spillane, CEO (& on behalf of the Board and all SKDP employees across South Kerry)
Like and share our page and posts on Facebook with all!
Did you know that there are four Direct Provision Centres in our part of Kerry and that SKDP helps support those staying there?
We recently oversaw the development of Relaxation Spaces in two Killarney Centres. These areas are now equipped with comfortable furnishings, aromatherapy diffusers, sensory lights, flowers, salt lamps and CD players! Our aim is to support the mental health and wellbeing of residents by creating these places of rest and relaxation.
In Kenmare, we oversaw the refurbishment of a Polytunnel so those residing there can grow their own vegetables. Not only is there the satisfaction in eating food you’ve nurtured but gardening assists mental wellbeing too.
We hope these improvements help people over this festive period and beyond! Thanks to the Managers of the Centres for allowing us help with these projects, which are supported by funds from the national Community Enhancement Programme, administered by Kerry County Council on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development.
We work with those living in ‘Direct Provision’ mainly through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) which targets and supports those who are disadvantaged in society.
Big news in Mid-Kerry this month: The official launch of a project spearheaded by SKDP: “A Sustainable Agricultural Plan for the MacGillycuddy Reeks – Conservation and restoration of Upland Habitat in the MacGillycuddy Reeks” with the help of Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.
One of the most unique and famous parts of Kerry is getting EU funding of €950,000 to protect the area!
The MacGillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership Project (EIP) aims to improve the economic viability of farming in the Reeks as well as preventing further habitat damage, due to the increasing recreational pressures on these upland areas.
We will be covering this in more detail in 2020 and what it will mean for locals, but for now see what went on in Cronin’s Yard and read our Press Release (*text beneath picture) which has been picked up across much of the local and national media.
PS: As we’re on the topic, if you’re thinking about going mountain climbing this winter, remember to take adequate precautions as well as consulting weather forecasts and local knowledge.
Mr. Michael Creed, T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, left, Patricia Deane, Project Manager for the MacGillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership, 2nd Left, with Mary Toomey, Project Ecologist, Noel Spillane CEO, South Kerry Development Partnership, at the official launch of the MacGillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership Project, by Mr. Michael Creed at Cronin’s Yard Tea Rooms, Meallis, Beaufort, County Kerry on Monday, December 9th. The project aims to improve sustainability, economic viability of farming through practical, achievable actions & innovative solutions to address issues & to protect biodiversity in this Natura 2000 area. Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan/FREE PICS***Issued 09/12/2019
***Press Release***
Minister Creed Lunched MacGillycuddy Reeks EIP Project
Minister Michael Creed today (Monday 9th December, 2019) officially launched the MacGillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership Project at an event held in Cronin’s Yard. The project, which is managed by South Kerry Development Partnership CLG, aims to improve the sustainability and economic viability of farming in the MacGillycuddy Reeks. This will be done through the development of practical, achievable actions and innovative solutions in order to improve the condition of the habitats of this unique Natura 2000 area, in close conjunction with the landowners/farmers in the area.
In his address to the large attendance, Minister Creed noted that the Reeks area was one of the most beautiful places in the country and it is only when one understands the visual element of this that one realises how important a project such as this is, particularly since it is locally owned and developed. He noted that the great thing with it is that it is playing to the strengths of the area and that the solutions being developed were locally engineered. He described the Reeks project as a good example of where he would like to see more policy initiative development and noted that the knowledge gained is transferrable to other regions in the country and indeed across borders given the links this project has with similar initiatives in other EU countries. The Minister noted that the project supports and promotes the sustainable development of farming and the rural economies into the future. Minister Creed gave a special thanks to the landowners involved for their participation and providing access and co-operation with the project.
This point was echoed by both Project Manager Patricia Deane and SKDP CEO Noel Spillane who added that without farmers, we will not have vibrant rural communities and economies and we will not be able to deliver on the environmental outputs required to support and enhance biodiversity in our uplands.
Noel Spillane also noted that this four year project offers a fresh innovative landscape based approach to tackle its aims rooted in the power of the collective so as to achieve economies of scale but also making use of traditional farm practices. “Among the main achievements of the project to date include the signing of contracts with a total of twenty three farmers, undertaking habitat condition assessments of ten land parcels, establishing a collective group to support landowners in undertaking works on their land including the treatment of rhododendron and bracken as well as facilitating several study visits by various groups to the reeks to discuss the EIP project objectives and its development” Noel added. He also praised Project Manager Patricia Deane and Ecologist Mary Twomey for their work to date as well as thanking the staff in the Department and the Operational Group for their efforts and commitment in delivering the project.
In her address to the gathering, Kerry County Council Chief Executive Moira Morrell said the Reeks EIP Project is an example of what can be achieved by all working together, the farmers linking with the agencies to deliver this project. She also paid tribute to the farmers involved and said they should be very proud of themselves on what they are achieving and added that it was very important that they are allowed to farm in a balanced and sustainable way. Ms. Morrell noted that the Reeks area had almost every designation possible but when people understand the implications of these designations, it is possible to work within them to achieve real outcomes. She described the model developed through the EIP Project as a really good one, a model for the future that involved doing things together in a sustainable way.
The MacGillycuddy Reeks Project is a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020.
END
For further information please contact:
Patricia Deane
Phone: 087 2031034
E-mail: [email protected]
SKDP staff help with upkeep tasks and can make adaptations to households, dependent on a person’s needs, so they can continue living in their own place. Having someone to cut the grass, make a footpath safe or perhaps paint a ceiling are improvements that not only contribute positively to the householder’s quality of life but also aids the independence of older people!
This Care of the Elderly and Home Maintenance Project is supported by funds from the national Community Enhancement Programme, administered here by Kerry County Council on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development. Thanks to them, this year we were successful in applying for funding of €7,000 with which we purchased everything from lawnmowers to power washers, hedge cutters to toolbox essentials!
Single occupancy households where there is no income are eligible for this support, so if you know someone over 65 who would benefit from this, let them know to contact Joe McCrohan ([email protected]) who manages staff on the RSS and Tús employment schemes.
LEADER, run by SKDP on behalf of the Kerry LCDC-LAG, wants to improve the social infrastructure for Young People (ages 15-35) in our area. Any group or business who can show how they will improve their community for this age-group is invited to express interest now.
The total budget for this call is €66,000 and the maximum amount of funding available to any individual project is €7,500. To find out more, read more detail beneath and proceed to the Expression of Interest as soon as possible, as the deadline is December 13th, 2019.
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