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Announcement of eight regional consultation meetings on the future direction of Civil Defence in Ireland.
The Minister with Responsibility for Defence Mr. Paul Kehoe, announced a series of eight regional consultation meetings for Civil Defence volunteers. The meetings will be held in the coming weeks with one in each Major Emergency Management (MEM) region as set out below.
The objective of the consultation is to allow Civil Defence volunteers have their say on the future direction of Civil Defence in Ireland. The Civil Defence Branch of the Department of Defence regard this engagement with volunteers as a key element of the consultation process.
| Date | Location | Hotel |
Wednesday 24 October | Tallaght, Dublin | Maldron Hotel, Tallaght |
| Tuesday 30 October | Mullingar, Co. Westmeath | Bloomfield House, Mullingar |
| Monday 12 November | Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford | Riverside Park Hotel |
| Wednesday 14 November | Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan | Treacys Hotel, Kingscourt Road |
| Thursday 15 November | Donegal Town, Co. Donegal | Mill Park Hotel |
| Monday 19 November | Limerick City, Co. Limerick | South Court Hotel |
| Wednesday 21 November | Macroom, Co. Cork | Castle Hotel |
| Wednesday 28 November | Claremorris, Co Mayo | McWilliam Park Hotel |
All meetings will commence at 8pm and will be chaired by Civil Defence Branch. The meetings will start with a short presentation from Civil Defence Branch followed by a short presentation from Volunteer Ireland. The floor will then be open for volunteers to make their observations and have their input.
Refreshments will be provided at approximately 9.30pm.
The Minister commented that
the consultation meetings give volunteers an excellent opportunity to have their input into Civil Defence policy.
The Minister also indicated he plans to attend two of the meetings, in Dublin and Enniscorthy.
The Minister concluded by saying
Civil Defence is a wonderful volunteer based organisation with the capability to support the Principal Response Agencies in a variety of emergency and non-emergency events and the Government is committed to its continued development in line with the 2015 White Paper on Defence.
In that context, he encourages all Civil Defence volunteers to attend one of the regional consultation meetings.
Notes to Editor:
Civil Defence is a statutory volunteer based organisation that supports the primary response agencies in a wide range of emergency and non-emergency situations. It has c. 3,500 trained volunteers based in all 26 counties.