Event to focus on EU projects

Upwards of 160 delegates from countries in the north west of Europe will attend a conference in Killarney next month on EU-funded projects for areas such as south Kerry.

The delegates will visit 35 businesses throughout the region which will enable local enterprises to establish contacts with similar firms in other EU countries and could lead to new business opportunities and ideas.

The conference will be hosted by the South Kerry Development Partnership which is the lead partner in the ‘Collabor8’ project.

Running from Apr 23 to Apr 25, the conference will be addressed by Environment Minister Phil Hogan, Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan and Ireland South Munster MEP Seán Kelly.

They will be joined by other local and national political representatives from the country and partner areas in Holland, Belgium, England and Wales.

Senior Representatives from INTERREG — the body that funds transnational projects — will also be in attendance.

As well as taking part in tours of businesses in the region, delegates will join their Irish counterparts in presentations and workshops.

Almost 2,000 businesses across the nine partner areas are involved in cluster groups that have driven the development of the tourism industry in their regions.

The ‘Collabor8’ project manager, Sean de Buitlear, said the conference would be a major opportunity to showcase Kerry to a wide international audience.

It would provide an ideal platform to promote Kerry as the premier tourism destination in Ireland, he added.

A presentation on Go Kerry, a countywide grassroots tourism group set up to promote Kerry that has its origins in the ‘Collabor8’ project, will also be made to the delegates.