13th OECD Rural Development Conference. Minister Heather Humphreys TD – Opening Remarks

Ministers, Secretaries of State, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen;

A huge Céad Míle Fáilte to you all.

It is a great honour and privilege for me, on behalf of the Irish Government, to warmly welcome you to Cavan for the 13th OECD Rural Development Conference.

This is the first time Ireland has hosted this prestigious conference.

And, after the long shadow of COVID, I am particularly pleased that we have been able to bring together representatives and distinguished speakers from so many Member States for the first major OECD Rural Development Conference in 3 years.

I want to thank our partners in the OECD and the Rural Working Party for giving us this tremendous opportunity.

Many of you have travelled long distances to be with us, so allow me to sincerely thank you for taking the time to be with us.

And I make you this one promise – you will have a wonderful time here in County Cavan!

Our event today is focused on the theme of Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places.

• Sustainable – Because, simply put, all of our futures depend upon it.
• Resilient – Because as we feel the effects of major events such as a pandemic and the war in Ukraine – we must always be ready for the next challenge.
• Thriving – Because we have a duty to shift the narrative about rural areas from one that is based on sympathy and solidarity to one that is focused on optimism and opportunity, and one that leaves no-one behind.

Despite the many differences between our countries, the challenges facing our rural communities are remarkably similar, distinguished mainly by scale and intensity.

With that in mind, the purpose of our event in Cavan is for OECD member States to consider the common challenges and opportunities facing us - from economic and social development, to equality and inclusion, to the green and digital transitions.

No one Member State has all the answers, but we all stand to benefit from considering these questions together.

We have an incredibly rich programme this week with speakers from right across the OECD region here with us to share their experiences.

I look forward to hearing from all of you over the next few days.

We also have a really interesting cultural programme for our international visitors where you will see rural development in action.

I hope you will also enjoy the warm hospitality of Ireland, during your stay with us.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am enormously proud to come from rural Ireland.

I grew up not too far from here, in the neighbouring county of Monaghan.

I have worked in and for rural Ireland all my life.

It has been the privilege of my career to serve as Ireland’s Minister for Rural and Community Development since 2020, and to lead Ireland into a new and exciting phase of rural development policy.

Despite the many challenges we face, and there are many, I believe an unparalleled opportunity exists to re-imagine and re-value what “rural” means to our societies.

When we think of Rural we should not allow ourselves to focus on decline.

Instead we should think of quality of life, innovation, community, and especially opportunity.

Perspective is important – because perspective drives ambition.

The Government’s vision is for a rural Ireland that is thriving and is integral to our national economic, social and environmental wellbeing and development.

The strength of our national economy depends on how well our rural areas do.

We need to move away from the tired narrative of rural versus urban.

'Our Rural Future', Ireland’s National Rural Development Policy, has adopted a whole-of-government approach to rural development because we know this approach is necessary.

We are working hard to make rural places better places to live, work and enjoy for everyone, through unprecedented investment and targeted measures right across government.

Our policy is based extensively on the OECD Rural Principles, which remain as valid today as they did when they were adopted.

We recognise the diversity of rural places, and we seek to build on that diversity in a “place-based” manner.

We also know that rural and urban areas depend upon one another.

Yes, there is a need to adapt public policies to most effectively support rural communities – in other words rural proofing – but we must get away from the belief that rural is the purview of only one Ministry or another.

Rural development is our shared responsibility.

Ladies and gentlemen, talent is distributed evenly throughout the world, but opportunity is not.

Our task is to help address that mis-match.

If we create more opportunities in rural areas and can get more people living and working there, the benefits are huge:

• reduced commuting times,
• lower emissions,
• more social and economic participation,
• more community engagement,
• more time to spend with families,
• better progress towards our climate targets,
• and most importantly – a better quality of life for our people.

The Remote Working revolution that we have experienced over the past two years has the potential to be transformative for society and the economy, and that is why we have invested so heavily in our network of hubs.

Achieving balanced regional development is a win-win for everybody.

It is key to ensuring other Government policies are successful, including those focused on employment, SMEs, food security, and housing.

Our Conference is structured around the three pillars of sustainability:

1. Economic

2. Social

3. Environmental.

Our discussions will feed into a Rural Policy Roadmap, which should serve to guide us all, individually and collectively.

Friends, now is the time for decisive and coordinated action for rural areas.

We need to move forward with an honest recognition of the many challenges being faced, but not be tied down by a sense of gloom or by nostalgia.

Opportunities are plentiful.

We need to double down and all need to work together – Government at all levels, civil society, private sector and academia – if we are to realise a brighter future for all of our rural places.

I hope you find this Conference to be useful and interesting, and I wish you an enjoyable few days in Ireland.

Go raibh mile maith agaibh / Thank you very much.

ENDS