County Longford PPN plenary meeting takes place this evening

County Longford Public Participation Network (PPN) are holding their first County Plenary meeting of the year this evening, Wednesday, March 10 7pm.

The online meeting link has been circulated to all groups and it promises to be a very interesting and informative session.
Tess Murphy, PPN Secretariat who will chair proceedings said,

“It is so important we stay in touch with our members and keep them up to date with our work and also areas that are of particular interest to the community right now.”

Ms Murphy went on to explain “for this reason the PPN chose to focus on information on the proposed N4 Mullingar to Roosky road scheme, how women can learn and become involved in politics and what impact the current environmental challenges and regulations have on local farmers.”

Westmeath County Council are the lead Local Authority on the N4 Mullingar to Longford (Roosky) current public consultation and Anne Marie Corroon who will be presenting at the meeting said, “I am delighted with the PPN invitation to make a presentation on the N4 Route Corridor Options”.

Ms Corroon said she will also be joined by the N4 Project team members John Holmes, Sandra Hagan and John Forde.

Tara Farrell, CEO Longford Women’s Link, the second speaker of the night, will be talking about the very successful See Her Elected (SHE) project and what is currently happening in Longford with regards to the programme.

Ms Farrell said, “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to discuss the SHE Programme at the forthcoming PPN Plenary along with my colleague Michelle Maher.

“There has been significant interest in the work of SHE since its establishment, especially the online SHESchool which has flourished during lockdown.

“There is a real appetite for discussing the ways and workings of local democracy among women in Longford and indeed Ireland.”

The final speaker of the night is Diarmuid Murray, Agricultural Affairs, Macra na Feirme who also welcomed the invitation to be a guest speaker.

Mr Murray explained that “Macra supports greater environmental ambition but it cannot come at the cost of farmer viability or the rights of the rural community to earn a living.”

Siobhán Cronogue, PPN Co-ordinator said, “It is exciting to have such a diverse range of speakers.

“The PPN is the main link between community groups, Longford County Council and other decision making bodies so the information and discussions during and following the meeting are key to understanding and addressing the issues citizens have and figuring out how as a PPN we can support our groups to solve these together at local government level.”

For further information on County Longford PPN please contact;

Siobhán Cronogue, PPN Coordinator on 087 261 5583/ email ppn@longfordcoco.ie or Helen Gorman, PPN Support Worker on 043 33 44223 / email hgorman@longfordcoco.ie.