AONTAS Consults with Kerry Members
24 Oct 2006 11:26 AM
AONTAS was meeting with its voluntary members in Kerry because the organisation's current Strategic Plan is coming to an end. "Our current Strategic Plan ends this year," explained Niamh O'Reilly, Membership Development Officer with AONTAS. "By consulting with our members throughout the country - including the voluntary groups here in Kerry - we hope that our new Strategic Plan will be as reflective as possible of the desires and concerns of the adult and community education sector in Ireland."
Maria Gorman from Kerry Education Services welcomed AONTAS to the county and spoke about how important it was for local groups to feed into the work of the national organisation. Ms. Gorman is a member of the AONTAS Executive Committee and, as such, provides an important link between the work of local groups in Kerry and the work of AONTAS at national level.
At the meeting, issues raised included supports for rural communities and the need for flexibility in funding for community education. Kathleen McAuliffe from Kerryhead / Ballyheigue Family Resource Centre said the need for flexible funding was one of the biggest issues facing voluntary groups in Kerry at present. "It is important that local community education groups make their concerns known at national level," she said. "AONTAS can provide us with a national forum and a mode of influence."
AONTAS has over 570 members throughout Ireland, including VECs, third level institutions, community education organisations and voluntary groups. The organisation's new Strategic Plan will cover the period 2007-2010.
