Social Inclusion

Kilkenny County Council Community and Enterprise section was established as part of Better Local Government changes identified in 1996. In early 2000 the Kilkenny County Development Board (CDB) was set up with the main task of drawing up and implementing a Strategy for Economic, Social and Cultural Development for Kilkenny. Key outcomes of the CDB were to bring local development and local government closer, deliver a more integrated approach to service delivery and to ensure special efforts were made to prioritise and facilitate the engagement of groups who experience marginalisation and disadvantage.

The CDB strategies developed were to take account of key national and public policies including the National Development Plan, the National Anti-poverty Strategy, the National Sustainable Development Policy, the National Equality Policy and the Information Age Policy.

The Local Government Reform Act 2014 makes legal provision for the reforms set out in the Government's Action Programme for Effective Local Government, Putting People First, which was published in October 2012. One of the provisions in the Act relates to community development in the context of local government, involving the establishment of Local Community Development Committees in place of the City and County Development Boards

The Community and Enterprise Department became the Community Culture and Housing Department in 2008-2009. Through the work of the Social Inclusion Measures Group (SIM), a subgroup of the CDB, the section has focussed attention on supporting those groups in the county who experience social exclusion as identified in the National Anti-Poverty Strategy 2007-2016.

As part of this focus the Community and Culture section has supported, endorsed and resourced a number of key strategies and polices that go some way in addressing social exclusion issues for particular groups in society.

The links below relates to local regional and national profiling and social inclusion priorities for Kilkenny:

Kilkenny County Council Disability Inclusion Strategy 2023-2026.pdf (size 857.1 KB)

County Kilkenny Traveller Profile 2013

South East LGBT Regional Strategy

Ferrybank Community Development Strategy Plan 2015 - 2020

National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007 - 2016

For further information please contact:

Community Department
Kilkenny County Council,
Johns Green House,
Johns Green,
Kilkenny
R95 CX92

Tel: 056 7794920
Email: community@kilkennycoco.ie