Ciaran Lynch

Development Manager, Tipperary, LIT Tipperary

I studied at undergraduate level in UCD and did post-graduate study in Town Planning at UCD; Social Planning at the University of Wales in Swansea; and Public Administration at the Institute of Public Administration in Dublin. I am a town planner by profession and worked as one for about tweny years in Irish Local Government. I finished that part of my career as Chief Planner with Clare County Council. As well as the technical aspects of planning I have also been intereted in the governance structures through which planning decisions are made. I say sometimes that planning is more a socio-political process than a scientific activity. I also believe that communities are entitled to a much bigger say in the decisions that affect them than they often get in praxtice. At the end of my time in Local Government and in my previous position I have been promoting and supporting participatory deecision-making processes in a wide variety of community, voluntary and public sector organisations. I am studying for a Doctorate in Governance through Queens University Belfast and the Institute of Public Administration in Dublin and hope that this will improve my understanding of these issues. Since September 2011, Tipperary Institute ws amalgamated with Limerick Institute of Technology. As part of that amalgamation a Development Unit, part of the LIT Development Office, was established in Tipperary. I am now the LIT Development Manager for Tipperary with roles in project development, life long learning, research, marketing, enterprise development and internationalisation. I am also the Director of the National Rural Network for Ireland which is delivered by LIT for the Government of Ireland as part of its Rural Development Programme.