Organiser

Irish Rural Link

 

Irish Rural Link (IRL) is a national network of organisations and individuals lobbying for rural development in Ireland. The network provides a structure through which rural groups, representing disadvantaged rural communities, can articulate their common needs and priorities share their experiences and present their case to policy-makers at national and European Union level. It is the only organisation at the social partnership talks that solely represents rural issues.

 

IRL was established in 1991 by concerned people active in rural development who came together to investigate the need for a rural network to raise rural issues. IRL’s aim is to address the economic, social, educational and cultural needs of rural areas and it has a specific mandate to represent the most remote and excluded communities. The network has over 300 organisations and 100 individual members nation-wide which include mostly rural community groups and individuals, who are involved in a wide variety of local community development activities in fields as diverse as tourism, fisheries, local history, culture, women’s groups training and youth work.

 

IRL lobbies for policies which address the particular problems of social exclusion in the rural areas. IRL campaigns for an increased awareness by policy and decision-makers about the problems of rural development and has made submissions to government on a number of issues. It assists and encourages community groups to get involved in rural development policy and to be aware of the latest developments in this area.