Mr. Aidan Campbell:

I thank the Chair and members very much for inviting us here today. I will say a little about Rural Community Network, RCN, and what we do, and then I will move on to give some information about the new common charter. RCN is a regional voluntary organisation established by community groups from rural areas in 1991 to articulate the voice of rural communities on issues relating to poverty, disadvantage and equality. RCN is a membership organisation with 250 member groups across Northern Ireland, and we adopt a community development approach to our work. We employ a team of staff with a broad spectrum of skills.

Our vision is of vibrant, articulate, inclusive and sustainable rural communities across Northern Ireland which contribute to a prosperous, equitable, peaceful and stable society. Our mission is to provide an effective voice for and support to rural communities, particularly those who are most disadvantaged. RCN’s work is focused on three broad areas. These are supporting and developing good practice among rural community groups, articulating the voice of rural communities and promoting reconciliation. More detail on our work and some of our projects can be found in our written submission. RCN supports the new common charter and we have been involved over the past year in trying to promote it. The charter provides a framework to encourage co-operation among civic society groups on the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain.

Many of the challenges rural communities face are similar. RCN has a long tradition of partnering with like-minded NGOs in Britain, Ireland and further afield. We delivered the Rural Enabler project in partnership with Irish Rural Link, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the North and the then Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in the Republic of Ireland. This was a PEACE III funded project based in Northern Ireland and the six Border counties of the Republic of Ireland. We are completing a project with partner networks in the UK and Ireland to develop key asks for future rural development policy post Brexit. We know and value the importance of engaging with partner organisations across the UK and Ireland and further afield. We hope to continue to develop and deepen these links in the future, post Brexit, and we believe that the new common charter will support us in doing so.