Ms Mary Hurley:

Under the EU regulations that govern the LEADER programme, each member state has to run an open competition. Everybody who wishes to make an application is entitled to do so. Obviously it has to meet various criteria. One of the things the Department looks for is that it is a coherent strategy that is joined up throughout the county. We look for a strategy that addresses local needs. LEADER is a bottom-up programme and it is very important that there is local and community feed-in to the strategy. People are entitled to make expressions of interest and because of this they fall in under the strategy.