The LEADER team at Monaghan Integrated Development (MID) want to hear your views on how the new LEADER Programme can fund & support communities & enterprises in Co Monaghan!
Your responses will help inform the delivery of the new LEADER 2023-2027 Programme (€6 million allocated to Co. Monaghan)
 
Please fill in this online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/B8TY7P2 
Or scan the QR code below to access it!
 
For more info, contact  / 087 176 0877 / 042 974 9500 
 
 

 Vacancies Available on the Rural Social Scheme

The Rural Social Scheme is a government initiative funded by the Department of Social Protection and administered in Co. Monaghan by Monaghan Integrated Development CLG.

 

The scheme provides an opportunity for farmers or their spouses, and in some cases their children or their siblings to earn additional income through employment provided in their local communities. The main aim of the RSS is to use the skills and knowledge of the local farming community in the development of local amenities, facilities, and services. All the work carried out by participants on the RSS will be community-based.

Types of Work

  • Environmental services (conservation and maintenance of national walkways)
  • Caring services (childcare, care of older people) 
  • General community services (newsletters or information provision for communities)
  • Para-educational services community playgroups
  • Energy conservation work in community buildings
  • Social care for all age groups and people with disabilities
  • Caretaking, securing, and supervising community buildings and spaces
  • Renovation of community and sporting facilities, including the regeneration and enhancement of community, recreation, and sporting spaces
  • Work in support of cultural and heritage activities
  • Community administration and community event management
  • Coaching for sporting activities

The types of work carried out under the RSS include 19.5 hours per week and these hours will be based on a farmer-friendly schedule in order to ensure that it does not impede farming activities. To be eligible to participate on the RSS applicants must be actively farming, be between 25 and 66 years of age AND be in receipt of one of the following payments from the Department of Social Protection

  • Farm Assist.
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance.
  • Jobseeker’s Benefit, if previously on a FÁS Community Employment Scheme or the Rural Social Scheme in the previous 12 months.
  • Disability Allowance.
  • One-Parent Family Payment.
  • Widow(ers)/Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension (contributory and non-contributory).

In most cases, the rate of payment on the RSS will be equal to the current rate of payment in addition to a top-up payment of €27.50. There is a minimum weekly payment of €247.50. A class A9 PRSI contribution is paid on behalf of all RSS participants and the payment is not subject to the Universal Social Charge.

In order for an applicant to be deemed eligible to participate on Rural Social Scheme, they must provide proof that they are actively farming by providing a copy of: Their application for the EU Basic Payment Scheme for the current year, which includes a valid herd number together with a copy of the associated receipts.

OR  for online forms taken from The Department of Agriculture website, the following will be accepted:

A copy of the review and submit page and a copy of the confirmation page for the year prior to the participant applying for Rural Social Scheme • A copy of the application summary details as above

Eligible Organisations

  • The work placements are proposed and provided by community and voluntary organisations.
  • The organisations must provide good quality work opportunities that are of benefit to the community.
  • Organisations with a proposed work placement should register with MID.
  • They will be asked to submit an application detailing the work and the number of participants requested.
  • MID will then assess and make a decision on the proposal.

The criteria for eligible organisations are as follows

  • Be Community, voluntary, and not-for-profit in nature: and
  • Have a recognised informal or formal/legal structure; and
  • Have a track record of working with or providing services to and within their communities; and
  • Demonstrate a capacity of managing the candidate in the work placement with the supervisory support of the Implementing Body.
  • Be able to provide a beneficial placement experience for the Person(s) in placement

There are 72 RSS Positions in Co. Monaghan and MID has a panel in place for interested candidates to join the RSS Scheme or for Community Groups wanting to become placement providers. 

If you are interested in becoming an RSS participant or if you are a community and voluntary organisation interested in applying to host RSS participants or seeking further information on the scheme you can contact any of the following:

Team Leader & South Monaghan Area - Aurelia Callan - 087 6021177/  

North Monaghan - Kathryn McCague - 087 7927902 /  

West Monaghan - Geraldine Maguire - 087 4171052 /  

Southside Partnership - Social Enterprise Support

 

 

 

 

 

 

The LEADER Team at Monaghan Integrated Development (MID) want to hear your views on how the new LEADER Programme can fund and support communities and enterprises in County Monaghan.
 
They are hosting their remaining in-person Public Consultations at Ulster Canal Stores Clones Town on Wednesday 22nd February and Carrickmacross Workhouse on Thursday 23rd February at 7.30pm, no pre-registration required. Then there will be an Online Public Consultation at 3pm on Thursday 2nd March, you can register for the Microsoft Teams meeting here. All are welcome to the events.
 
 
The new LEADER 2023-2027 Programme is being rolled out nationally through the Department of Rural and Community Development and MID was successful in securing funding in order to develop a Local Development Strategy for the new programme for County Monaghan.
 
In line with the community-led local development process of LEADER, MID have been hosting public consultations to learn of the challenges, ideas and needs that County Monaghan based communities and enterprises have, to inform the delivery of the new LEADER programme.
 
So far, consultations have taken place at Tydavnet Community Centre, Castleblayney Enterprise Centre, St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre Monaghan Town, Ballybay Christ Church Centre and Ulster Canal Stores Clones. These events give you, the attendees, an overview of the LEADER Programme and how it has and could fit and form around the needs and ideas of the communities and enterprises throughout the county. The LEADER team also facilitate breakout discussions, guiding attendees through the programme’s themes 1. Economic Development and Job Creation, 2. Rural Infrastructure and Social Inclusion, and 3. Sustainable Development of Rural Environment and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, gathering your interpretations and input to inform the new strategy.
 
It is important that you, the local communities and enterprises, take this opportunity to have your say. The Department of Rural and Community Development has allocated €6 million to County Monaghan under the LEADER Programme 2023-2027, and the allocation of this funding will be informed by the needs identified for the County in the new strategy.
 
For more information, visit www.midl.ie or contact  / 042 974 9500 / 087 176 0877.
 
LEADER is supported through funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and is delivered through the National co-financed CAP Strategic Plan for 2023-2027.
 
Pic 1 – Marianne McEneaney, LEADER Development Officer, talking through the programme at the Ballybay Consultation


Pic 2 – Marjan Boers, LEADER Programme Coordinator, facilitating the breakout discussion at the Ballybay Consultation


Pic 3 – Rita Killian LEADER Project Support Officer, facilitating the breakout discussion at the Monaghan Town Consultation

 
The LEADER Team at Monaghan Integrated Development (MID) want to hear your views on how the new LEADER Programme can fund and support communities and enterprises in County Monaghan.
 
The new LEADER 2023-2027 Programme is being rolled out nationally through the Department of Rural and Community Development and MID was successful in securing funding in order to develop a Local Development Strategy for the new programme for County Monaghan.
 
Public Consultations are taking place at St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre Monaghan Town on Wednesday 15th February, Ballybay Christ Church Centre on Thursday 16th February, Ulster Canal Stores Clones on Wednesday 22nd February and Carrickmacross Workhouse on Thursday 23rd February, all at 7.30pm. There is no need to pre-register to attend and all ages and backgrounds are very welcome.
 
 
The first batch of consultations have taken place, at Tydavnet Community Centre and Castleblayney Enterprise Centre. The consultations give you, the attendees, an overview of the LEADER Programme and how it has and could fit and form around the needs and ideas of the communities and enterprises throughout the county. The LEADER team also facilitate discussions, guiding attendees through the programme’s themes 1. Economic Development and Job Creation, 2. Rural Infrastructure and Social Inclusion, and 3. Sustainable Development of Rural Environment and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, gathering your interpretations and input to inform the new strategy.
 
It is important that you, the local communities and enterprises, take this opportunity to have your say. The Department of Rural and Community Development has allocated €6 million to County Monaghan under the LEADER Programme 2023-2027, and the allocation of this funding will be informed by the needs identified for the County in the new strategy.
For more information, contact  / 042 974 9500 / 087 176 0877.
 
LEADER is supported through funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and is delivered through the National co-financed CAP Strategic Plan for 2023-2027.
 
Pic 1 – Marianne McEneaney, LEADER Development Officer, feeding back to the group at the Tydavnet Consultation
 
Pic 2 – Marianne McEneaney, LEADER Development Officer, facilitating the breakout discussion at the Castleblayney Consultation
 

The LEADER Team at Monaghan Integrated Development want to hear your views on how the new LEADER Programme can fund and support communities and enterprises in County Monaghan.
 
They are starting at 7.30pm in;
  • St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre Monaghan Town on Wednesday 15th February.
  • Ballybay Christ Church Centre on Thursday 16th February.
  • Ulster Canal Stores Clones on Wednesday 22nd February.
  • Carrickmacross Workhouse on Thursday 23rd February.
There is no need to pre-register to attend and all ages and backgrounds are very welcome.
 
We had our first pair of consultations in Tydavnet and Castleblayney on Wednesday and Thursday evening, thank you to those who joined and contributed to the discussion. It is important that local communities and enterprises take the opportunity to have their say in the development of the new strategy that will address community, enterprise and environmental needs.
 
The Department of Rural and Community Development has allocated €6 million to County Monaghan under the LEADER Programme 2023-2027, and the allocation of this funding will be informed by the needs identified for the County in the new strategy.
 
If you cannot be there, feel free to get in touch with us at  / 042 974 9500 / 087 176 0877 and share your thoughts.
 
LEADER is supported through funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and is delivered through the National co-financed CAP Strategic Plan for 2023-2027.
 
 

 
There was great attendance and response from attendees at last week’s Monaghan Women’s Collective Ireland (previously Dochas for Women) Women's Health event at St Patricks Hall Monaghan. Gerard Callan of the 'Fit for Work and Life Programme' at Monaghan Integrated Development (MID) and Sinéad Keenan and Grace Sherry of the Monaghan Volunteer Centre at MID were delighted to be part of the day.

The Monaghan Volunteer Centre staff shared information about volunteering roles in local areas throughout County Monaghan along with the health benefits of volunteering, answering volunteering queries and registering interested people with Monaghan Volunteer Centre in situ if they wished. To learn more about the Monaghan Volunteer Centre, visit volunteermonaghan.ie and or contact / 047 72191.

Gerard of MID spoke about the 'Fit for Work and Life' programme which includes practical advice on living well including diet, exercise, alcohol, smoking and more. If you wish to register for the programme, contact Gerard on 087 665 2162 / .
 

 
New agricultural show management software supported by Monaghan LEADER

The Irish Shows Association (ISA) is delighted to announce the launch of its ISA SuperShow Platform, an integrated show management IT system, which will be available to its members throughout Ireland. During the enforced break in ISA’s regular activities due to COVID-19, the association was able to focus on bringing this innovative digitalisation project to fruition.

In recent years, shows have found it increasingly difficult to attract people to administrative positions due to the significant time and paperwork involved. Recognising the need to future-proof their shows, the ISA set about seeking funding to develop a cloud-based show management system to reduce the administrative burden on the agricultural show volunteers.
Following investment in market research and a feasibility study, the ISA went to tender and awarded the contract to Irish software development and integration company, Dotser. The ISA is delighted to partner with an indigenous Irish company to provide this exciting ICT solution to member shows. This new system will allow organisers/entrants/participants to log information, such as animal details, only once and use this same data for their next show.

The project is part-funded under the LEADER national cooperation programme, which is supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Agriculture as part of Project Ireland 2040.

The project is being led out by Monaghan Integrated Development CLG in partnership with Avondhu Blackwater Partnership CLG, Galway Rural Development CLG and Southwest Mayo Development Company CLG.

Gabriel O'Connell, CEO of Monaghan Integrated Development and Lead project Partner says: “It has been a great pleasure to work with the Board of the Irish Shows Association and being able to support this worthwhile project under the LEADER National Cooperation Measure. He noted that Monaghan LEADER Local Action Group was on board from the start, cooperation funding meant we could pool together resources from the 4 counties involved and provide the support needed to develop this innovative shows management system which will make sure local agricultural shows in Ireland continue in the community well into the future."

45 ISA member shows will be live on the new system for the coming showing season and exhibitors are encouraged to avail of this very useful service. A list of all participating shows will be published on the Irish Shows Association website, www.irishshows.org.

The roll-out of the project has commenced with training actively underway including a session held at the ISA AGM recently, where Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys commended the ISA for "the great work being done in digitising and future proofing the shows".

 
 
Media release date; 2nd February 2023

Monaghan LEADER Public Consultations coming to your local area from next week

The new LEADER 2023-2027 Programme is being rolled out nationally through the Department of Rural and Community Development. Monaghan Integrated Development (MID) was successful in securing funding in order to develop a Local Development Strategy for the new programme for County Monaghan.

In line with the community-led local development process of LEADER, MID are hosting a series of open public consultations to learn about challenges, hear your ideas and discuss the needs that County Monaghan based communities and enterprises have to inform the delivery of the new LEADER programme. There is no need to pre-register for these events and the Monaghan LEADER team welcome all ages and backgrounds to attend.

We want to hear your views on how LEADER can best serve the needs of County Monaghan. Six public consultations will take place throughout the county from 7.30pm at Tydavnet Community Centre on Wednesday 8th February, Castleblayney Enterprise Centre on Thursday 9th February, St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre Monaghan Town on Wednesday 15th February, Ballybay Christ Church Centre on Thursday 16th February, Ulster Canal Stores Clones on Wednesday 22nd February and Carrickmacross Workhouse on Thursday 23rd February.

LEADER funding brings solutions and benefits to local areas, and the programme promotes the sustainable development of rural communities, environmentally, economically and socially, to improve the overall quality of life of those living in them.

Speaking about the upcoming public consultations, Mary Mullen, Chairperson of MID says ‘In total 6 million euro has been awarded to County Monaghan for the new LEADER Programme 2023-2027. The team in MID are excited to talk to the local community and enterprises to hear more about their needs and challenges and find out what they feel the LEADER Programme should concentrate on in its new phase’. Further thematic sessions, online consultations and a survey will follow to inform the LEADER Local Development Strategy.

For more information about the LEADER programme, contact  / 042 974 9500 or 087 176 0877 and visit www.midl.ie 
 

 

           
 

County Monaghan Sustainable Energy Community (SEC), supported by Monaghan Integrated Development (MID), launched their Energy Master Plan (EMP) for County Monaghan at the Íontas Arts & Community Resource Centre, Castleblayney on Tuesday 20th September.
 
Gabriel O’Connell, CEO of MID, pictured speaking at the launch.

The EMP establishes the baseline of energy use in the county, identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption, to become more energy efficient, and the plan recommends a range of activities to promote the uptake of Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grants to make homes more energy efficient. The report recommends targeted community engagement including hosting information clinics and events. A necessary step to promote the uptake of home energy efficiency measures was identified; providing information on the grants available and supporting homeowners with their grant application.

‘Residential Energy accounts for over 53% of total energy consumed in the county, Monaghan has a higher proportion of householders using oil as the main source of heating, 64% v’s 37% nationally. If Monaghan is to do its bit to meet the national targets as set out in the Climate Action Plan by 2030 it requires 700 homes upgrading to B2 annually and 561 homes installing a heat pump annually in County Monaghan. Presently 82% of houses in Monaghan have a C1 or lower BER rating, so we have a long way to go in meeting the 2030 targets’ states Julie Clarke, Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) Development Officer at MID who organised the launch and energy expo.

‘Poultry is the most energy intensive, farming activity, in the County with 240 farms followed by diary with 707 farms. Heating fuel, kerosene, accounts for the highest (49%) form of energy consumption on Monaghan farms’ notes Dawn Murphy of Action Renewables, who completed the study. In the Agriculture sector, the need to encourage the uptake of the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine’s Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) to modernise farm buildings, equipment and PV installation in all agricultural sectors was identified. Similarly, the need to encourage the uptake of the SEAI Support Scheme for Renewable Heating Systems (SSRH) for the installation of biomass renewable heating systems in poultry, pigs and mushroom production to reduce costs and CO2 emissions was also highlighted.

‘County Monaghan SEC is one of 700 SEC’s across the country, 70 of these groups have successfully completed their Energy Master Plans to-date and 130 more are underway’ Susan Richardson from SEAI congratulated County Monaghan SEC on the completion of their EMP. The County Monaghan SEC formed in 2020 when MID brought a range of stakeholders together (Irish Farmers' Association - IFA, Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board - CMETB, Dundalk Institute of Technology - DKIT, Teagasc, Monaghan County Council, MID, South West College - SWC and Transition Monaghan) to begin work on developing an Energy Master Plan for the County. The SEC group secured funding from SEAI to complete the plan which focuses on the residential and agricultural sectors.
 
FREE HOME ENERY EXPO

Following the EMP Launch, the MID SICAP Team hosted a FREE HOME ENERGY EXPO in the foyer of the Íontas Centre attracting over 80 homeowners. The event presented attendees with ways to make their homes more energy efficient with a breakdown and further information of the various SEAI grants available to support this by Mel Gavin from the Atlantic Technological University (ATU). Homeowners also had access to information and advice on applying for the SEAI Warmer Homes Scheme (from CMETB & SICAP), One Stop Shops Grants (from Kore Insulation), and Individual Home Grants (from County Monaghan SEC & ATU) while Aisling of the Citizens Information Service answered queries about Fuel Allowance eligibility which is one of the qualifying social welfare payments to apply for the Warmer Homes Scheme.

To find out more about the SEAI grants, visit www.monaghansec.ie.
 
Click on the link to download and or view a copy of the Energy Master Plan, or telephone Margaret at MID on 042 9749500 (0) for further information.

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