The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has welcomed her Danish counterpart Minister Louise Schack Elholm to Castleblayney Co. Monaghan for a programme of meetings to discuss approaches to rural development best practice and to view Irish rural development projects in action.

Minister Schack Elholm, whose remit includes responsibility for planning and rural districts, is undertaking this visit to Ireland in order to observe at first hand the impacts of Our Rural Future, Ireland’s national rural development policy, in rural communities such as Castleblayney and it’s surrounds.

The Danish delegation visited a number of projects funded under Our Rural Future, including the Ridge Enterprise Centre and Castleblayney Library, which have together received more than €6 million under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, Lough Muckno Leisure Park, funded under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme, and the LEADER-funded Doohamlet Community Centre.

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Welcoming Minister Schack Elholm to Monaghan, Minister Humphreys said: "It has been my great pleasure to welcome Minister Schack Elholm to County Monaghan. There are real similarities between Denmark and Ireland in terms of the make-up of rural areas, the challenges these communities face and the opportunities that exist moving forward. We have been able to give Minister Schack Elholm and her officials a first-hand look at some excellent examples of the way Our Rural Future is supporting communities to revitalise and regenerate their localities through investment in the enterprise, recreation and community infrastructure. This investment is necessary to ensure that rural areas remain attractive places to live, work and raise a family. It has also been hugely valuable to learn from the Danish experience of rural development. It is so important that we maintain our engagement with international colleagues to assist us in our continued delivery and development of rural policy in Ireland."

Minister Schack Elholm added: "It has been a very inspiring and informative day in beautiful Ireland. We are currently working on a new rural policy plan in Denmark, and it has been a pleasure seeing some of the great initiatives implemented with Our Rural Future in Ireland. The rural communities are an essential part of both the Irish and the Danish economy, culture, and history."