An Irish Community Development Movement's Experience of Crisis Conditions: Muintir na Tire's Struggle for Survival

Abstract

A major stream of community development in Ireland has been identified with Muintir na Tire ("People of the Land"), a movement that has concerned itself with the promotion of the social, economic and cultural welfare of mainly rural localities since the 1930s. What Muintir offers is a vision of where community development should fit in the public life of the Irish nation, and a model that enunciates some basic principles as to how local representative self-help groups should organise and operate. Muintir has always existed on two levels: at local level, where there are now about 120 Muintir-affiliated community councils, and at national level, where a central office attempts to represent and service community councils, as well as local communities more generally. This paper will focus on two central issues: the serious difficulties that have confronted Muintir at all levels in recent years, and the manner the movement has sought to negotiate the various obstacles it has encountered. Our conclusion is that while Muintir has shown undoubted ingenuity and resilience in weathering many storms, the ongoing crisis it now faces continues to raise serious questions about its future both as a national movement and as a significant force in Irish community development.

Towards a Theory of Statecommunity Partnerships: Interpreting the Irish Muintir Na Tíre Movement's Experience

“…5. A fiscally hard-pressed Irish state felt obliged to cut this grant from £30,000 to £15,000 in 1987, thereby precipitating an immense financial crisis for the national organization (see O Cearbhaill and Varley, 1996).…”

“…It will also consider the constraints and the opportunities the movement now faces in seeking to survive within a context in which the ideal of partnership has become firmly implanted in Irish public policy discourse. What we have to say about Muintir at the national and local levels is based on a series of interviews with Muintir activists, as well as on documentary research undertaken at Muintir's head office and in a number of Irish archives (O Cearbhaill andVarley, 1988, 1996).…”

“…In addition, there is the tendency for once-affiliated CCs to disaffiliate. A further difficulty stems from the drift away from Muintir guidelines on the part of some CCs that remain affiliated (see O Cearbhaill and Varley, 1996).…”

“…The same enthusiasm for building partnership-type relations with the state/EC/EU is not universally found at the movement's local level (see O Cearbhaill and Varley, 1996). Indeed, one significant area where drift is evident from the nationally set guidelines is in the local CCs' very partial acceptance of the national movement's emphasis on the desirability of steering clear of adversarial or confrontation tactics in their dealings with the state (Muintir na Tire N.D.,.…”

“…Actual experience of dealing with the local government authorities and other branches of the state has resulted historically in considerable cynicism about the state's commitment to any form of genuine partnership (O'Donohue, 1982). Several instances might be given to illustrate how critical some CCs have become of their local authorities over such matters as poor quality roads and refuse disposal facilities (see O Cearbhaill & Varley, 1996). Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 04:55 01 June 2016…”