Row erupts in West Cork over management of EU funding

A row has erupted in West Cork over the administration of millions of in EU LEADER funding.

A formal appeal is expected to be lodged within days by the West Cork Development Partnership. Despite the rural development group overseeing the region’s LEADER funding for the last 25 years and being hailed as one of Europe’s top performers, it lost the competitive bid to manage the latest round of funding.

An independent selection committee has chosen three local authority-backed Local Community Development Committees (LCDC), in North Cork, South Cork, and West Cork, to manage the LEADER funding until 2020.