Kilrush Town Team is a partnership body formed under Clare Local Development Company’s (CLDC) Market Towns project in February 2018. The primary motivating factor behind the establishment of a Town Team is to support sustainable and coordinated approaches to the revitalisation of Kilrush town.
Kilrush possesses a host of voluntary, community and enterprise development organisations who work tirelessly to support, promote and enhance social, cultural and economic development and services in Kilrush and its surrounding hinterlands. In an effort to create a cohesive and dedicated delivery structure, Kilrush Town Team was established, in partnership with Clare Local Development Company’s (CLDC) Market Towns Project. One of the primary motivating factors behind the establishment of a Town Team is to support sustainable and coordinated approaches to the revitalisation of Kilrush town. Kilrush Town Team is made up of volunteers from a variety of backgrounds including business and community interests, voluntary, environmental and other community activities, all of whom share the common goal of improving economic, social and cultural development within the locality. Kilrush Town Team offers a dedicated local representative body that will specifically oversee the securing of funding for local projects and initiatives. As often has been the case in the past, funding opportunities for communities have been lost as the window of availability is not sufficiently long enough to allow those communities to adequately plan for and submit applications. Representation from all stakeholders in the town was key to developing a vision for the town and setting out a plan that can support all sectors of the community.
“Kilrush shall be recognised as a vibrant, living and working community. Kilrush will be a place that people want to live in and to visit, it will be seen increasingly as a destination town with heritage and a heart. Live and work where you are happiest.”
Kilrush Town Team functions in a flexible and dynamic manner with a rotating membership and defined themes through which activities can be undertaken and managed. Kilrush Town Team’s focused Thematic Groups are as follows: Enterprise; Tourism; Public Realm & Environment; Community & Education; and, Amenity & Sport. Each theme had a Lead or Champion who is responsible for one Thematic Group, which will be made up of members of the community with a specific interest in the group topic i.e. environment, Tidy Towns, education, tourism, recreation and sport, business and enterprise, arts, culture and heritage, and community. The Thematic Group has a specific objective to develop targeted actions, timeline for delivery, identification of supporting partners, and projected lifespan.