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Monaghan - Ireland

 
 

Pilot

Monaghan - Ireland

County Monaghan is a mainly rural county in Ireland (shown in dark green in the diagram). It is part of the Border Region and is in the province of Ulster. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county. According to the 2016 census, the county had a population of 61,386 people. It is the fifth smallest of the Irish Republic’s 26 counties in area (1295km2) and fourth smallest by population, with only 37% of the County’s population living within an urban area. It is bound by Counties Cavan, Meath, Louth, Armagh, Tyrone and Fermanagh. It is strategically located on the Donegal/Derry – Dublin corridor, adjacent to the M1 corridor and has strong links to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The County is predominantly rural with a quality drumlin landscape interspersed with wetlands and woodlands..

 

Introduction

County Monaghan is a mainly rural county in Ireland (shown in dark green in the diagram). It is part of the Border Region and is in the province of Ulster. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county. According to the 2016 censu, the county had a population of 61,386 people. It is the fifth smallest of the Irish Republic’s 26 counties in area (1295km2) and fourth smallest by population, with only 37% of the County’s population living within an urban area. It is bound by Counties Cavan, Meath, Louth, Armagh, Tyrone and Fermanagh. It is strategically located on the Donegal/Derry – Dublin corridor, adjacent to the M1 corridor and has strong links to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The County is predominantly rural with a quality drumlin landscape interspersed with wetlands and woodlands.

PRIORITY ISSUES

Despite its peripheral border location, Monaghan has a long and proud tradition in the development of unique indigenous industry and as a hub for innovation in business and agriculture nationally. In recent years the county has become more diverse and is now home to a significant population of newly-arrived immigrants. Some have fled from wars and persecution, but most arrived to pursue a better life in Ireland and to work, live and study in the county. In 2016, new communities of non-Irish nationals now comprise 11% (6,122) of the population of the county. County Monaghan’s agricultural base is characterised by relatively small farm holdings, but is well supported by a vibrant agri-food sector and major companies operating in the county with a strong emphasis on the export market. 

Despite having the second smallest average farm size in the country, averaging at 23.3 hectares, agricultural output from the county’s 4,565 farms is relatively high at €351 million with an export value of €483 million, representing the 7th highest nationally, (IFA Farm Directory 2015 – Data Sources – CSO, DAFM, Board Bia). Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic present significant uncertainty, and common threats which are likely to impact all the Irish counties adjacent to the border in a similar fashion. Whether Brexit will materialise as an economic shock for the Irish economy, as suggested by many, only time will tell, but most commentators agree that whatever the scale of the impact, the 6 Irish southern border counties are likely to be disproportionally impacted.

Documentation

Documentation

OVERALL AMBITION

 

Based on the highly innovative PoliRural approach, project sharing and learning best-practice from other regions, the overall ambition is to explore the potential of non-traditional entrants to enter farming in County Monaghan. The project research will explore the motivation and potential for such new entrants into the farming sector and what supports they need to effectively become a farmer or to work in the farming sector

Expected outputs

 

The aim is to create a new support service, “I want to be a Farmer”, for nontraditional entrants to farming and looking at what supports they may need to effectively become a farmer or to work in the farming sector. This service will be targeted at:

Irish people without a farming background

New community members who may be interested in pursuing a career in farming

People who have immigrated to Ireland from other countries (many from Eastern European countries), mostly young people and some of whom already have a farming background

Expected impact (qualitative)

 

There is currently no such support service in Ireland or even policies to do so, so a direct impact will be new non-traditional entrants into the farming sector in County Monaghan, and a best-practice service that can be adopted and affect policies in other regions and EU Member States.

 
3

Policy makers

19

RURAL COMMUNITY

6

New entrants

3

Experts

Progress bar

Progress bar can help orient the user in terms of what the pilot was doing, what is happening now and what will happen in the future. While the structure of the bar will be the same for all pilots, its content will differ from pilot to pilot. A dynamic front end with a predetermined colour scheme can be used to differentiate past, present and future, like in the graphic below.

 

NEEDS gathering

 

Policy matching

 

Policy evaluation

 

Future outlook

 

Mission orientation

Monaghan - outcome

NEEDS GATHERING

NEEDS GATHERING

PILLAR STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
1. Availability of public and other services S1.01 Good Local Primary & Secondary Schools. W1.01 Public transport & mobility. Weak public transport infrastructure. O1.01 More active promotion of the rural area & availability of suitable off-farm work opportunities and schemes -
- W1.02 Local medical/primary care facilities. Weak public services, online services & teleworking facilities in rural areas. O1.02 CAP reform - LEADER & European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Farmer Groups. New CAP policies may provide incentives for access to land. -
2. Recreation / social activities S2.01 Safe & secure local environment W2.01 Internet/telecom connectivity. Limited broadband access, & ICT skill levels. Patchy coverage. O2.01 Sustainable tourism. -
3. Living condition, quality of life and standard of living S3.01 Local community pride & living conditions. Rural Innovation being supported through LEADER W3.01 Not enough employment opportunities. New Communities often struggle to find suitable employment. O3.01 Potential for smaller farms to add ‘public good’ value - Trails, walks, guide tours, local history T3.01 BREXIT could lead to higher criminality in our border region.
- W3.02 Housing opportunities are limited & expensive. - T3.02 Concern about CAP post 2020 funding cuts due to BREXIT & focus on climate actions.
4. Demographic & human capital S4.01 Many proactive women & young people in the population. W4.01 Rural demographics. Profile of farmers is aging. Loneliness & Isolation. - T4.01 Many young people are choosing not to farm the land.
5. Business, economy & innovation S5.01 Lively communities & citizen-driven local activities. Well established rural & farming lobby supports, Teagasc, marts, CoOps, IFA etc & Entrepreneurship W5.01 Credit & finance is expensive & limited. Small farm sizes. Land prices are a barrier to entry for new entrants O5.01 Sustainable agriculture & forestry (which is under developed). Social Farming & better cultivation Practices. Further scope to shorten local food supply chains. T5.01 Lack of farming experience/expertise. No support schemes & information for newcomers.
- W5.02 Inadequate support & taxation schemes to attract new business. - T5.02 Competition from less regulated countries always a threat
6. Social and cultural aspects of rural areas S6.01 Strong community & voluntary sector. Strong farming & rural community ethos, with farmers being custodians of the land, waterways and biodiversity W6.01 Connections between urban & rural areas. O6.01 Integration of new populations in the area. Many new community members have farming skills / interests. T6.01 Financial insecurity of farming
7. Environment & Biodiversity S7.01 Open landscapes & beautiful diverse natural areas. Pristine rural area & environment / sustainability - O7.01 Climate Change Opportunities. Alternative energy sources. T7.01 Many cultivation practices are not environmentally sound.
S7.02 Excellent quality & green farming produce. Farms as ‘public goods’. Strong Irish food certification system. - - T7.02 Not yet attracting adequate eco-firms & sustainable businesses.

POLICY MATCHING

POLICY MATCHING

Need Title of the policy/programme/strategy Level at which the policy is launched Contact/Website of the policy
Provide support schemes that encourage new entrants & young people into farming CAP, LEADER/EIP Regional level www.midl.ie, https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/955114-rural-development-policy-2020
Improve the financial security of farming through greater diversification, access to finance & alternatives to land purchase. Rural Development Programme (RDP) National level https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/179274-leader-rural-development
Proactive promotion of the rural area to attract newcomers Rural Development Policy 2020+ - LEADER Regional level www.midl.ie, https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/955114-rural-development-policy-2020
Encourage more sustainable agriculture, production of vegetables & forestry development Vegetable Production & Forestry development Plans Regional level

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/horticulture/vegetables

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/forestservice/grantsandpremiumschemes2014-

2020/archive/grantandpremiumschemes/forestrydevelopmentprogramme
Address BREXIT uncertainty Rural Development Policy 2020+ National level https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/955114-rural-development-policy-2020
Increase employment opportunities in rural areas Rural Development Policy 2020+ LEADER Regional level

www.midl.ie, https://www.localenterprise.ie/Monaghan,

https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/955114-rural-development-policy-2020

POLICY EVALUATION

POLICY EVALUATION

Monaghan TM report [PDF, 324kB]

Monaghan Pilot Evaluation Report [PDF, 1922kB]

FUTURE OUTLOOK

FUTURE OUTLOOK

PROCESS DATE OR PERIOD

Complete the process of adoption of the package by actors

January 2021

Establish Monitoring Committee

February 2021

Establish Plan for monitoring and evaluation

March 2021

Introduce elements of the plan into identified policy processes

May 2021

MISSION ORIENTATION

MISSION ORIENTATION

OTHER

OTHER

The following map shows the open land use map of Flanders.

BEST PRACTICES

As part of the Polirural project, information on individual entrance case studies and other data from pilot regions will be published in the Atlas. The Atlas of the Best Practices visualizes relevant cases on a map and provides easily accessible information to inform and inspire other stakeholders. Best practices and pilot examples are collected by project project partners and there is a need to identify, synthesize, share and present individual examples and provide opportunities for new paths and other subjects. Below you can see some of the Ireland's best practices.

Brenda McGinn – Busy Bee Ceramics

I offer a pottery service for the public which includes teaching pottery to children and adults. I offer group sessions for bridal parties or birthday parties, and couples dates. I also work with individuals; for example, with those who are differently abled, people who are suffering with mental health issues and others who are recovering from cancer treatment or other physical illnesses and often they attend with their families. I also produce pottery products to sell in my Busy Bee Craft Shop.

Read more...

Jarlath Treanor

We keep both pedigree & commercial herds of cattle & flocks of sheep, pedigree Hereford cows and pedigree Charolais sheep are kept in an aim to provide breeding sires for the commercial farmer to produce livestock for their enterprises. Any animals that don’t meet this market, enter the food chain through Foyle & Dawn Meats, we are looking into diversifying at the present moment.

Read more...

MARK GILLANDERS

Mark is an Organic Beef and Tillage Farmer. He took over the family farm in 2004. It had been a dairy farm but dairying had ceased before Mark took over. Mark started up a low input suckler cow to weanling system on less than 70 acres and looked at organic farming as a way of increasing income from the farm in 2009 mainly due to the presence of the Organic Farming Scheme which offers payments for organically farmed land.

Read more...

Irish team

PILOT TEAM

 

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MAC

Monaghan pilot Leader

 
 
Monaghan Integrated Development
Partner Organisation

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