Category: News

SKDP Community Car Initiative Driver Job Advert

SKDP Community Car Initiative Booking Admin Officer Job Advert

Significant potential to develop new Social Enterprises exists in South Kerry but there are key needs that both existing and new enterprises require in order to develop. That’s among the findings of the recently launched South Kerry Social Enterprise Strategy, which was commissioned by South Kerry Development Partnership and funded through the LEADER Programme.

The report has identified 3 specific objectives to assist the continuation and future development of the sector in South Kerry. These are the need for sectoral capacity and development, the need to develop networks and collaboration between organisations involved in the sector as well outlining the steps required to accelerate the development of Social Enterprises in the region between now and 2025.

The launch event, which was held in Listry Community Centre, heard that 30% of the existing social enterprises in South Kerry are in existence for more than 40 years and they all are unique in that they provide services that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Examples of social enterprises in the region include visitor attractions, childcare and meal on wheels services. Mens Sheds are examples of newer social enterprises that have come on stream in the last number of years.

Among the challenges facing the sector include the age profile amongst those involved in running the enterprises, dealing with the effects of reduced revenue and dependency on external sources of funding, the impact dealing with every increasing compliance issues is having on enterprises and the difficulties for enterprises in undertaking strategic planning and continuity.

A copy of the full report is available to download HERE

The South Kerry Rural Men’s group had another great day out on Thursday last march 23rd.
The men visited Macroom Buffalo farm in co.cork.
If you are interested in joining the Men on further outings you can contact any of the SKDP offices. Or the Men’s outreach officer on 0877473404

As part of the process to draft the new LEADER programme plan for South Kerry, SKDP is currently engaged in a series of Community Meetings seeking the views and input of communities across the region in relation to their needs under the new programme.

As part of these meetings, a short presentation is provided outlining the information currently available on the new programme and a link to those slides is available Here

South Kerry is featured in an ERASMUS+ project that is focusing on the theme of rural community resilience. This inter-territorial project is led by the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), and Dr Breandan O’Keeffe (who is based in South Kerry), is one of the research partners.

Other participants are the University of Ljubljana, two LEADER Local Action Groups i.e. ADRIMAG (Portugal) and Kozjansko (Slovenia) and the EU-wide European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL).

Over the past year, the consortium has successfully surveyed stakeholders and undertaken case studies in several contexts, including South Kerry.  Their research with rural communities is feeding into the design of an accredited course (NFQ Level 6) in Rural Community Resilience.  The course will be offered on-line in September 2023.

Anybody who is interested in registering is advised to contact Brendan ([email protected]) or any of the project partners.  For further information about Rebound, please see the project website: https://ruralresilience.eu/ (English) or https://ruralresilience.eu/ga/ (Gaeilge).

 

South Kerry Jobs Fair an Overwhelming Success

Both employers and attendees described the South Kerry Jobs Fair, held in Killarney, as an overwhelming success. Almost 1,500 people attended the event while there were more than 50 exhibitors from across a broad range of employment sectors and agencies also present. Some of the employers present confirmed that they employed people directly at the event.

It is the second year of the event which is organised by South Kerry Development Partnership CLG, in conjunction with the Killarney Chamber of Tourism & Commerce, and sponsors included The Great Southern Hotel and Red Chair Recruitment.

SKDP CEO Noel Spillane said that they were delighted with the turnout which was larger than expected. “An excellent range of candidates with broad skillsets attended, particularly from the Ukrainian community which is a testament to their desire to work and integrate into the communities across South Kerry” he said. Senior Executive with Killarney Chamber of Tourism & Commerce Bridget O’Keeffe echoed this and added that there was a super atmosphere in the Great Southern as job seekers spent time with exhibitors looking for the best opportunity for them. “All exhibitors put in a huge effort to select suitable candidates from a very strong talent pool aided by Interpreters where necessary” she noted.

Muireann King from Killarney Distilling and Brewing Company described it as an excellent event and said that they had some excellent candidates that they are looking forward to following up with and hopefully placing.

The level of interest from the candidates attending was highlighted by Siobhan Whelan from the Sheehan Group who described it as an excellent event. T.J. O’Connor from MTU also noted the enthusiasm of the candidates who attended, both those seeking employment as well as those interested in pursuing further education opportunities while Madina Zikare from the Muckross Park Hotel said it was a very busy day with a lot of applicants and they are hopeful of filling the positions they had on offer.

SKDP’s Enterprise Officer Joanne Griffin said she was delighted with the event overall and thanked both the candidates that attended as well as the employers for their commitment to the event. “We were also delighted to have a team of interpreters in place to assist in translation for some of the Ukrainian candidates” she added, noting that many of them are attending English classes and are very anxious to take up employment positions. Joanne added that that they are hoping to expand the event further in 2024 and may look to add new elements to it.