Ballyjamesduff
BALLYJAMESDUFF MUNICIPAL DISTRICT
​WELLBEING STATEMENT 2020
Health (Physical & Mental)
Vision: We want to live in a locality where individuals, families and communities can be well in the mind and body and where ways of ensuring that are supported, developed and cherished.
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Drive a healthier connected community through better locally linked services in public transport and community taxis which can gather our people together for healthy activities such as libraries, movie nights, social events, greenareas such as outdoor gyms and areas for all abilities and ages. Greater​ variety of activities should drive use of derelict spaces and unused carparks into the likes of trekking trails, gyms, handball walls, skittles, basketball areas, market and fair spaces etc. These multi-functional areas will prove beneficial gathering points for people to meet, connect and become healthier in their communities together.
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Mental Health awareness and supports essential for a better community, including wellness training and mental health awareness toolkits. This should include all aspects of addiction and social media health training complimented with Befriending Schemes and Odd Job Schemes for older people to make amore inclusive society.
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Ensure structures and supports are in place for the wellbeing of our people. This to include an accessible health service especially for those mostvulnerable with greater supports (including Fair Deal Scheme supported) for family care and sheltered right-designed living for older persons. This structural care should be expanded to parental supports in our communities and to ensure that signage, pathways and systems in our health service areuser friendly and easy to access.
Work, Economy & Resources
Vision: Our economy is driven by the human and social capital of our people. Our aim is to support them, enhance them through better technologies and connect them with better transport and internet for a smarter, community focused economy.
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Support local villages and rural centres with new technologies and digital and enterprise hubs to showcase local businesses and help them strengthen through interconnectedness with high speed broadband. On a countywide level this should be supported by regular local business expos and an industrial hub, preferably near Virginia. Spatially this could be achieved byrenovation of older buildings to new standards through underutilized grants and showcase sites.
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Our people are our best resource in their skills and time. Community Cafes, Village and Town Teams, social and affordable housing with a connectivity through efficient local transport and community taxis will increase our social capital. This would be even better enhanced with a continuance of the M3 to Cavan and develop rail in the border counties region.
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Technological innovation and development is a must and embracing new and green technologies would help us to grow efficiently and sustainably. Better
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E-charging locations, high speed broadband to work from home and supports for enterprising and SME heroes of our county.
Social & Community Development
Vision: We are an enabled and connected community that strives to free our people to be the best versions of themselves and to bring about the power of our village lifestyle whereby the social and communal care of all brings about a better you.
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Development of an integrated and connected community enabling rural Ireland to grow in our area though strategies and programs such as greater local link services, community taxis, weekend rural transport and ensure that the Cavan-Dublin route begins to link with major towns either side of the route, either through detour or linked up services.
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With the emphasis on ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ we should work toward a support of community groups via funding and training to engage with new and isolated communities of our people. Organising culture days, language exchanges, and an encouragement of statutory and communityorganisations to work together for the betterment of our social hubs would have a massive positive impact.
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The structural and support mechanisms of our communities need working upon. The streamlining of grant information and applications, grouping insurances together and tackling the outrageous costs will greatly assist communities to be engaged in for more volunteer work and less administrative burdens. Under social development, the universal design model deployed in housing would lead to much better supports for people in their own homes.
Participation, Democracy & Good Governance
Vision: Our Municipal District will be a well informed and cooperatively led society of community and political leaders for the mutual benefit of all our citizens in a transparent and accountable way.
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Some structural and support items should be addressed to enable a greater empowered community in the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District. Streamlining administrative burdens to governance and grant applications along with the lessening of insurance liabilities would free up our community volunteers to be more proactive in shaping our communities positively.
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The voice of people need heard and the PPN should be developed andsupported more as a relevant method of representation in a non-political way through its representation on effective and transparent bodies.
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Community participation and information is key to having a healthy civic society. A one stop shop for community supports (perhaps the PPN website or physical signposts in villages and towns), and the willingness to put plans such as this Wellbeing document into action and not just gathering dust on a shelf.
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Public representative engagements with the community would greatlybenefit our areas. This could take place in regular and timely clinic times by​ public representatives, joint meetings between PPN and political reps on anMunicipal District level and joint political and community leader profiling. This strategy would enable both civic and political leaders in our communities to work to the mutual benefit of our municipal district.
Values, Culture & Meaning
Vision: New and Old Irishness can come together and strengthen our identity as a people to create communities of care and a culture that is both dynamic and beautiful where people feel truly like they belong.
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Embrace our diversity and new communities as an enriching part of Ireland in our localities. Preventing racism, integration of new communities, appreciating the ‘New Irish’ and encouraging these new cultures as a positive contribution to our own is a brilliant and beautiful way to make Ireland wake up to the greatness of our varied cultures.
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Loving our traditional culture is also key to the other side of a thriving and flourishing meaning in our communities. Preserving and advertising our built and social heritage and history will enable ourselves and visitors to fall in love with old Ireland in a new way and open new avenues of appreciation and enterprise. Music and dance is an active and living part of our heritage and should be supported at a community level in all areas.
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The structured supports to enable people to live well and for values andcultures to interact and grow are essential. Developing resources for families, better local transport and homecare with appropriate residential accommodation in our localities are ways we can persuade people to stay, engage and be happy by making these villages and towns their homes and feel belonged in a meaningful way.
Environment & Sustainability
Vision: Rural Ireland is the backbone of our Island and farmers the heart ofthis who should be supported in creating an environmentally green sector. Further, we aim to live greener and cleaner for our environment by encouraging care and appreciation of our natural heritage through learning,​ supporting and cherishing the beauty around us in our countryside.
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Our farmers are the custodians of the land and the best vehicle to a greener future. With this in light we should give farmers greater financial incentives to move away from beef farming to more eco-friendly agriculture. Subsidies to encourage hedgerows, develop on farm environmental projects such as anaerobic digesters and community farming and farm allotments wouldgreatly transform farms positively as the backbone of rural Ireland.
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Support people to seek a sustainable life, not just place on them taxes and burdens. Reliable public transport can replace cars, better foot and cycle paths in and around essential and beautiful local attractions will attract people to use these and appreciate the local environment. Developing local community gardens, polytunnels and green spaces with joint up training and wildlife walks will greatly build in our people a love and passion for our natural environment. This will be the key to inspire people to make a move to change their lives to save the environment.
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Restoring and beautifying our built heritage and old buildings will enablepeople to have more of an input and rallying call to love their localities andamenities such as the Old Mill in Ballinagh, Flemmings Folly, Old Mill Road in Kilnaleck and in and around Ballyjamesduff, Gowna and other towns and villages of our Municipal District.