‘Have your say in shaping Kilkenny’s future’ – LEADER Partnership seeks new members

The Kilkenny LEADER Partnership (KLP) is looking for new members. And it is asking those already registered and who represent over 150 different organisations across the city and county to make sure they nominate suitable candidates and vote in the upcoming election of new board members.

Kilkenny LEADER wants all of its registered members across community groups, small and medium sized businesses as well as registered residents in the county to put forward the names of potential new board members who will “best represent the interests of Kilkenny and who want to play their part in shaping how Kilkenny will prosper, grow and look for future generations”.

The nomination deadline is Friday, September 18, and five new seats are up for grabs for individuals deemed by the membership pool to be worthy of serving on KLP’s 15-strong Board of Directors.

Existing registered members have already received a pack containing a nomination form. These must be returned to the post box at KLP’s headquarters on Patrick’s Court.

Members who intend to vote must be registered with KLP and either they or their organisation or business must have paid the nominal €5 registration fee.

Any group or organisation eligible to become members still has time to download the application form from the LEADER website and have their say in future elections and policy making in the community. Such new members will also play a key role in the formulation of future LEADER programmes for Kilkenny.

KLP Assistant CEO Martin Rafter urged groups or individuals registered to consider nominating a suitable person from their sector now and get their names in as soon as possible.

“That suitable person can be either part of your organisation or part of another membership community or small business. We all have innovative, creative and future looking people in our communities and this is our opportunity to work with them, get them involved in LEADER. We ask everyone to remember that the absolute deadline for nominations is September 18.

Five of the 15-strong KLP Board directors are elected every three years from the members group and of these, four come from the Community and Voluntary sector with the fifth chosen from the Small Business sector.