A NUMBER of organisations in Kerry have joined forces to tackle rural isolation and growing suicide levels among elderly people.

THE success of an amalgamated GAA club, near Caherciveen, Co Kerry, was yesterday highlighted as an example of what can be achieved in the battle against rural depopulation.

NOW that the Celtic Tiger has died, the post mortems focus on the economic and property collapses, but the spotlight is beginning to be put on the Tiger’s physical effects on the landscape of Ireland.

A RURAL dwellers’ campaign group is in dispute with council engineers over septic tanks.

Donal Hickey on sustainable communities and a low-carbon future.

A GROUP representing rural householders is to tell an Oireachtas committee tomorrow it believes thousands of decisions made by Bord Pleanála may be illegal.

ABOUT 60 people yesterday mounted a protest outside a Kerry County Council meeting in Tralee, against what they claimed were over-restrictive planning policies in rural areas.

A CLAIM by An Taisce president Eanna Ní Leamhna that a new €150 million bypass must be built between Tralee and Killarney because too many houses have been erected on the existing road was confirmed by Kerry County Council yesterday.

MANY towns and villages are becoming over-populated and congested, just like Dublin, a rural dwellers’ conference heard yesterday.

HURLING and football clubs in neighbouring rural parishes are being forced to amalgamate in order to survive, it was claimed yesterday.

POLITICIANS canvassing for votes in the general election are getting plenty of ‘stick’ on the doorsteps from people experiencing difficulties in obtaining planning permission in rural areas, a planning conference heard.

LEGISLATION on the rights of homeowners to defend their property from intruders is likely to be published early in 2007.

DESPITE current negative trends, there could be a future for rural tourism and small country shops, according to football legend and Fáilte Ireland director Páidí Ó Sé.

PLANNING inconsistencies are causing extra financial hardship for those waiting to move into new homes, architects claimed yesterday.

THE cost of new houses will rise again in the new year, the Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA) claimed last night.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was yesterday accused of making a U-turn on a pledge to ease planning restrictions in rural areas.

RESTRICTIONS on one-off housing in rural areas are set to become the biggest issue in next year’s local elections unless the Government follows through on its plans to reform planning legislation, the Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA) has warned.

THE recent attacks on An Taisce highlight a level of ignorance that is frightening coming from people in positions of leadership.

LOCAL authorities could be forced to pay millions of euro in compensation if they refuse planning permission to protect the natural beauty of an area, according to the Irish Rural Dwellers Association.