Packed premises as crowd attends Laois Partnership Company open morning

To mark Local Development Week, which celebrates the vital role Local Development Companies (LDCs) play in building vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland, Laois Partnership Company held an open morning in their Portlaoise premises on Friday, September 27th, 2024.

This was a lively and well-attended event in the company’s headquarters, which was held to promote the work carried out by the local development company and also afford them an opportunity to show their appreciation to their colleagues and supporters.

“We were delighted with the number of people who walked through our doors on Friday morning,” said CEO, Caroline Lydon. “As the local development company for County Laois, we have been working throughout the county for almost twenty years. However, there is still little public awareness of the range of supports and services available. This event was to invite people in to have a chat and a cup of tea and to go around the various stands to talk to staff and find out more about those services.”

Laois Partnership Company moved into the old St Francis School on the New Road Portlaoise in September 2022 and now use this as their headquarters. The company has been in existence since 2008, and since that time their outreach into the social, economic and community sectors of County Laois has grown with the implementation of various schemes and programmes.

Attendees at the open morning were able to learn more about these services, including social inclusion, rural development, work placement, childcare services, services to the elderly, social enterprise, and climate action. Besides information tables staffed by members of the various departments, there was also room for a polydome built by Liam Phelan of the Mountrath Men’s Shed, stocked full of fresh produce from the local allotments, which are supported in their work by Laois Partnership Company.

Men’s Sheds are just one of the many community projects that Laois Partnership promotes, and members of the Rathdowney Men’s Shed were present to keep the crowd entertained and the toes tapping with live music, ending with a heartfelt rendition of the Irish ballad, Eileen Óg.

Laois Partnership Company would like to thank everyone who made the effort to pop in and find out more about the valuable work that the company does, with the large attendance testament to the positive effect the company continues to have on the growth and development of County Laois.