Cllr McLoughlin praised for efforts

COUNCILLOR Grainne McLoughlin has been praised by her fellow Councillors for her endeavours as the Chair of the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC).

The LCDC comprises of representatives who are members of the Local Authority, other state agencies, community and voluntary sector and social partners. It works with marginalised communities and service providers using a community development approach to improve people’s lives.

Also represented by LCDC are LEADER, The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), County Wicklow Public Participation Network (PPN) and the Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP).

During a LCDC presentation held at last week’s meeting of Wicklow County Council, Cathaoirleach Cllr Pat Vance pad tribute to Cllr McLoughlin’s involvement.

‘I thank Grainne for a wonderful job, which has gone underneath the radar in many cases. It involves a huge amount of work and hours. It’s one of the areas where we in Wicklow have been really successful and there is a wonderful community spirit out there. Grainne has made a tremendous contribution that will be there for a long number of years.’

Cllr Gerry Walsh said: ‘She has done tremendous work and will be greatly missed going forward.’

Cllr Shay Cullen commented: ‘I know how passionate she is in this whole area.’

Director of Services Michael Nicholson also provided the council meeting with an update on different projects the LCDC is involved with. He said: ‘We aim to build communities from the ground up.’

Cllr Miriam Murphy praised all the work carried out by the LCDC.

‘ They do amazing work that reaches out to so many varied parts of society.’

Cllr Vincent Blake felt that the old courthouse in Baltinglass would made for the perfect locations for the LEADER head office.

Cllr Edward Timmins said: ‘I would ask that local councillors are informed when any grants are given to different groups so as to make us aware of what is going on. With our district discretionary funding we need to make informed decisions and know which groups may have already received money.’