A DIPLOMA in rural development will be available through Distance Learning this autumn, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, said yesterday.
Announcing details of the diploma, which he described as a unique collaborative venture between the four NUI colleges in Cork, Dublin, Galway and St Patrick's College, Maynooth, he said the course was a major milestone in developing rural Ireland.
"The course is being targeted at people who are involved in rural development in a professional or voluntary leadership capacity and will provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to initiate and manage local rural development," he said.
Mr Deenihan said the importance of developing rural Ireland could not be overemphasised and he hoped there would be women among those seeking to take the diploma. "The role of women in rural development, especially in the areas of tourism and local industries, cannot be underestimated," he said.
The course was "an important addition to the training and education available to rural communities to assist then in confronting the challenge they are facing," he said. It was particularly suited to those engaged in capacity building in communities, an essential feature of the Leader II rural development programme.
He would be urging Leader groups and other local development structures to sponsor participants in the course, which was set up following a recommendation of the Committee on Rural Development Training established by Teagasc in 1992.