The Purple Flag is now officially flying in Carrick on Shannon. The Purple Flag Award is a new initiative given to towns that offer residents and visitors an enjoyable, vibrant evening and night time economy.  The Flag was formally raised on Friday evening last by the McGloin Family with the Cathaoirleach John McCartin. The McGloin family were selected to raise the Purple Flag following a media campaign in Leitrim Observer to select the family or individual who should have the honour of jointly raising the flag. The Cathaoirleach brought the flag ashore aka the Milk Tray man.

Leitrim County Council formally approved the Local, Economic and Community Plan (LECP) 2015 - 2021 at its January 2016 meeting. The Plan is part of the reform of local government and sets out the key Economic and Community objectives for the County for the  6 years (2015 - 2021). The vision set out for the County is:

Leitrim, A Vibrant County with Big Ambition ... where our communities are safe and healthy, our resources and heritage are sustained and our economy is thriving

The Economic Plan includes actions to facilitate job creation, regional development and actions for the main economic sectors within the County will be overseen by the Economic Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) of the Council. The plan was put together based on extensive consultation with businesses in the county and the following sectors were prioritised:

• Energy Supply and Green Economy
• Agriculture and Food
• Services, Manufacturing and ICT
• Creative, Arts and Culture
• Tourism
• Women in Business

A number of actions in the plan have commenced.

The Community Plan includes actions on areas which community and target group consultees identified as most relevant to Leitrim. These include the following:

• Living and Well-Being (including  health, safety and recreation)
• Learning and Training (all stages of learning)
• Working and Growing (job creation, social enterprise and upskilling)
• Inclusive and Welcoming

The Community elements of the Plan will be overseen by the LCDC which is a new structure in each County - Local Community Development Committees. These are made up primarily of community and social partners and also Council Elected Members and Staff as well as the HSE, Dept. of Social Welfare and Teagasc in the case of Leitrim.

To download a summary of the Plan CLICK HERE

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The ‘Manor Summit’ will be on Thursday 18 February, from 7.00pm to 9.30pm in The Bee Park Centre in Manorhamilton. The target is to have an attendance of 100+ people involved in various sectors of business and community in the broader Manorhamilton area as a continuation of the Regional Economic Development Zone (REDZ) initiative. To plan the event, a meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 2nd at 6pm in the Sculpture Centre in Manorhamilton. if you are living, working or interested in being involved in any of the above activity areas please do come along.

Carrick on Shannon is the smallest town in Ireland yet to achieve the prestigious standard of Purple Flag for its well-managed evening and night time economy.

We will formally raise the Purple Flag on Friday evening next, January 29th at 4.15pm. All businesses are encouraged to help turn the town purple for the weekend. The raising of the Flag will take place in the Tourist Office carpark at 4.15pm and there will be a special prize for the most creatively "Purple-themed" outfit by a Woman and by a Man.

The town was awarded the standard in November 2015 and to mark the start of the Spring season in the town, the Purple Flag will be raised at the Tourist Office Car Park by Cathaoirleach John McCartin and the McGloin Family who were selected through public recommendation to raise the Flag.