PROMOTING ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT AMONGST RURAL COMMUNITIES

Various attempts at rural community economic development in the west of Ireland are reported and analysed in this paper. The efforts of one particularly interesting rural community to establish a knitters' co-operative are reported on in the first part of the article and a variety of initiatives undertaken by twelve other communities under the auspices of a Community Enterprise Programme operated by the Shannon Free Airport Development Company are then examined. The total set of experiences provides valuable insights into what communities can do to promote local development and the manner in which this task might best be undertaken. The development of community capacity to function effectively on a self-help basis over a protracted period is identified as a necessary precondition for the establishment of successful community business.