DAY ONE:

Registration from 11.30am at Hotel Lobby.

Welcome and Opening of Conference at 2.15pm.



2.30pm - 4.15pm:
1st Session (Glasbough Room)
Agriculture and Rural Issues in the 21st Century:
Chairman: Hubert Nicholl (Ballymena Borough Council)

1. Mr. Clark Black, Chief Executive of the Ulster Farmers Union
Mr. Gerry Gunning, Executive Secretary of the National Rural Development Committee of the Irish Farmers Association as well as being Executive Secretary of the Western Development and Less Favored Areas Committee.

4.15pm - 5.30pm:
2nd Session (Glasbough Room)
Government and the EU:
Chairperson: Cait Keane (South Dublin County Council)

1. 1. Mr. Frank O'Donnell - CLĮR, White Paper on Rural Development , Western Development Commission (Irish Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs)
2. Mr. Jim Nicholson MEP

Dinner served at 8.00pm

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DAY TWO:

10.00am - 11.30am
3rd Session (Glasbough Room)
Case Studies:
Chairman: Bertie Montgomery (Magherafelt District Council)

Focus on two Community/Rural groups from Northern Ireland and two groups from Republic of Ireland.

1. The North Antrim Community Network represents rural community and sectored interest groups in the council areas of Ballymena, Ballymoney, Larne and Moyle.
Ballyhoura Development Ltd - a rural development company established in 1989 to tackle rural decline in this area of Limerick/Cork. It aims to tackle economic and social exclusion with the aim of ensuring that the most marginalised and disadvantaged individuals living in Ballyhoura Country have access to opportunities and options to bring about their own development and the development of the society in which they live.
COSTA - Communities of South Tyrone Area. The Rural Support Network (RSN) for community Groups and individuals in the South Tyrone Area.
IRD Kiltimagh - one of the foremost community development organisations - TBC

11.30am - 1.00pm
4th Session (Glasbough Room)
Rural Development in the Cross Border Context:
Chairperson: Sinead Guckian (Leitrim County Council)

Mr. Paddy Harte, Development Consultant with the International Fund for Ireland
Mrs Pauline McCloy, Director of Rural Development with DARD and chair of the North-South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat Steering Committee on Cross-Border Rural Development
Mr. Pat Gibbons from the Department of Agribusiness, Extension and Rural Development, University College Dublin
Mr. Martin McDonald, Chief Executive Rural Development Council (NI)