Rural development companies to fight abolition

Rural development companies have vowed to continue applying for future EU funding, despite facing abolition in July under radical government reform plans.

The news came yesterday as representatives of several local development companies (LDCs) launched a robust defence of their sector and vowed to fight Environment Minister Phil Hogan’s reform proposals.

“The message from the companies in Cork is ‘hands off’,” a spokesman said at a press conference in Cork.