The Annual General Meeting of the Northern & Western Regional Assembly will be held in the Assembly Headquarters, Ballaghaderreen on Friday 5th July 2019 at 11.00 a.m.
Delegates from the North and West of Ireland attended a Knowledge Exchange visit in Kuopio Finland. The delegation which included, Brendan Mooney (NWRA), Patrick Devine (NWRA) Suzanne Seery (Dietitian, Croí, Heart and Stroke Charity), Lisa Corbett (Senior Community Nutritionist at the HSE) and Elaine Donohue (manager at the Bia Innovator Campus in Athenry) travelled as part of an Interreg Europe project called EUREGA.
Presentations from nutrition researchers at the University of Eastern Finland which highlighted the similarities between the Nordic and Mediterranean dietary patterns, were highly informative from an Irish perspective; Suzanne Seery commented “The Mediterranean diet has a lot of research behind it to support the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Both the Nordic and Mediterranean diet include a focus on plant based minimally processed foods, wholegrain cereals such as oats, barley and rye, fruit and vegetables, regular consumption of oily fish and low intakes of processed red meat”
Elaine Donohue, manager of the Bia Innovator Campus in Athenry which is due to start construction in 2020, also got the opportunity to visit the Future Food Lab of Savonia University of Applied Sciences. Speaking about the visit she stated, “it was great to learn about emerging technologies to assist companies in developing food products and carrying out consumer research”.
The attendees also got to learn about the Finnish ‘Free School Meals’ programme which entitles all children in nursery, primary and secondary schools a free and healthy meal. Lisa CorbettSenior Community Nutritionistfrom the HSE who works on the Healthy Ireland strategy commented “it was very interested to see first hand how the children are benefiting from healthy school meals programme which Finnish people believe is a significant factor in the children’s health and wellbeing and their ability to learn and develop”.
The visit, which was funded through the Interreg Europe EUREGA project and was a unique opportunity to learn about the Finnish dietary guidelines and the Nordic dietary pattern and the stakeholders aim to use the knowledge gained to improve policies in Ireland.
On the 11th June, the Irish regional stakeholder group for the OURWAY project met for the second time to discuss emerging best practices from Irish & European partner regions in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. The draft planning & economic strategy for Ireland (RSES – Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy) was also discussed in relation to the development of greenways in Ireland & the region. Conall McGettigan (Senior Executive Planner, Northern & Western Regional Assembly) delivered a presentation on emerging issues surrounding the advancement of greenways versus the improvement of railways and the arguments presented on both sides. Caroline McCarroll (Waterways Ireland) also gave an update on the Pilgrim Way Project which is currently undergoing a feasibility study examining the potential of The Pilgrim Way in Ireland and how a product could be created from this. The study will also look at how The Pilgrim Way will be branded. The proposed way is 350km is length with a 20km radius from South Donegal to the Shannon Estuary in Kerry.
Stakeholders from various Local Authorities in the region were in attendance along with representatives from Fáilte Ireland, Department of Transport, Tourism & Sports and Waterways Ireland. Other topics discussed at the meeting included land acquisition for greenway development and the possibility of creating a national best practice document for same (pros and cons discussed), Planning Permission, Environmental Assessments and Financial Instruments/Funding for Greenways. The meeting proved very informative & Patrick Devine (EU Projects Officer, Northern & Western Regional Assembly) agreed to coordinate an update newsletter for the stakeholders at regular periods throughout the lifetime of the project. Stakeholders were also told about the next OUR WAY Interregional Workshop and Partner Meeting which will take place in Poland in September.
The meeting finished with a practical trip to examine closely a demo section of the greenway in Ballysadare, Co. Sligo. Most stakeholders attended this also and the visit was a great success.
Northern & Western Regional Assembly
Dillon House, Ballaghaderreen
Co. Roscommon
F45 WY26
Ireland
+353 (0) 94 986 2970
