What is a partnership company?
The Drogheda Partnership is one of 38 Partnership Companies established in areas of high socio-economic disadvantage within the Republic of Ireland. Partnerships are supported under the Border, Midlands & Western Operational Programme of the National Development Plan 2000-2006.
- Drogheda Partnership will seek to create a Partnership incorporating the Community, Voluntary, Statutory and Social Partner Sectors.
- The Board of which will devise and implement a dynamic local development strategy for Drogheda and deliver the Local Development & Social Inclusion Programme.
- This strategy will target the needs of the most marginalised.
- It will seek to co-ordinate, enhance, and add value to the provision of state services to the people of Drogheda.
Our Mission Statement Is:
' In partnership, and in full consultation with the people of Drogheda, to enable and empower those who are disadvantaged to develop their lives and achieve their full potential. '
The principal objective is:
"To counter disadvantage through support for communities which make a collective effort to maximise the development potential of their areas, which are capable of a sustained effort to implement a plan and which have committed an appropriate level of resources to that process".
It is anticipated that the Partnership:
"Will impact positively on the special needs of the socially excluded, the long-term unemployed and those at risk of becoming long-term unemployed."
Partnership Companies around the country are the primary mechanisms through which these objectives will be achieved.
The functions of the Partnership Companies are to bring together the community, statutory and social partner sectors; to draw up a local development plan aimed at countering disadvantage; and to support and monitor the implementation of the agreed plan.
When was it formed?
The Drogheda Partnership Company was formed in May 1995.
What work does the Partnership focus on?
The Board of the Partnership has prioritised key initiatives and programmes incorporated into the Plan for 2000 - 2006. the key areas are: services for the unemployed, Information technology & Communications strategy; employment and training; enterprise and job creation; community development; youth and education. The local development plan of the Partnership details a range of strategies within each of these action areas.
In relation to target groups, the plan specifically mentions a number of key groups who are experiencing particularly high levels of marginalisation and/or inequality: these are mainly Travellers, women, people with disabilities, ex-prisoners, substance misusers, the elderly and lone parents. The Drogheda Partnership plan recognises that individuals and groups need ongoing support in order to access the resources there fro them within the statutory sector.
In addition, there are key areas, particularly the seven RAPID areas within Drogheda which are entitled to a higher than average level of support from Partnership resources due to the concentration of disadvantage affecting the areas.
The seven RAPID areas in Drogheda are:
Ballsgrove, St. Finian's Park, Rathmullen, Marian Park, Moneymore, Pearse Park, & Yellowbatter.