The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, has announced the opening of Tranche 3 of the Burren Programme for applications from interested farmers. The Burren Programme is one of a suite of locally-led schemes being rolled out by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine as part of its Rural Development Programme. The Programme is targeted at farmers with species-rich grazed habitats in the Burren.
Minister Creed commented: “My Department, through our Rural Development Programmes has funded farming in the Burren region for many years and the current Burren scheme is central to meeting our common objectives of conserving the unique heritage, environment, and communities of this unique area. I had an opportunity last week to take part in one of the farm walks organised as part of the Winterage Weekend and can see that the Burren project is an excellent example of an innovative locally-led project under our Rural Development Programme. I would like to congratulate the Burren Team and the participating farmers on a scheme which ensures that agricultural activity is undertaken with regard to the local heritage and environmental priorities and which has fostered a palpable sense of community pride. We look forward to working with them on developing this project into the future”
This scheme focuses specifically on the conservation of that unique farming landscape in counties Clare and Galway. The investment by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine for this scheme will be up to €15 million over the lifetime of the present RDP.
The application form is available on the Department’s website at www.agriculture.gov.ie/LocallyLedSchemes
The closing date for applications is 17th November 2017.
There are already more than 270 farmers in the Burren Programme following successful intakes in 2015 and 2016. It is hoped that this third, and final, tranche will bring participant numbers to more than 400 farmers. Farmers in the County Galway section of the Burren region are being particularly targeted in this tranche. Contracts for all successful applicants will be for five years commencing on 1st January 2018.
