Castledawson House is located at 47 Main Street, Castledawson. In recent years the house had become derelict and fallen into a state of disrepair. In 1997, a group of people from the Castledawson area came together to address the problems of economic and social disadvantage in the area and identified the redevelopment of Castledawson House as an opportunity for a community regeneration project, which could be a flagship to encourage further investment in the area.

In 1999, Castledawson Development Enterprises Ltd. was formed with the aim of progressing plans to redevelop Castledawson House.

NOW Project, an organisation which provides training and employment support to adults with learning disabilities, has for 4 years successfully run a coffee shop and catering business from the Millennium Community Outreach Centre on the Springfield Road. The social enterprise, which trades under the name LOAF, raises vital funds at the same time as offering training and job opportunities to adults with a wide range of learning disabilities.

LOAF has now launched a new corporate catering endeavour, operating out of state of the art kitchens in West Belfast’s Maureen Sheehan Health and Wellbeing Centre.

Through the development of the Linen Green designer outlet village, Moygashel Community Development Association (MCDA) can be credited with attracting investment into the Moygashel area worth over £20m, transforming a village which had been badly affected by the decline of the world famous linen industry.

Last year MCDA sold the Linen Green as a going concern to Jermon Developments Ltd. thereby turning a market failure into a market success which the private sector is now willing to embrace.

Northern Ireland’s overall contribution to the music industry has always been notable and significant. Think Van Morrison, Ash, The Undertones, David Holmes, The Divine Comedy and in most recent times Snow Patrol and Duke Special. The pedigree of artists emanating from here is there for all to see.

However all of these artists have faced a common problem in that it has been critical to leave their homeland in order to progress. Belfast lacks a number of crucial factors that are essential for bands and musicians to progress. We have few native record labels and none capable of taking on a major act. We have no publishing companies or serious management companies. The sum total of this situation is that the money generated through our native acts remains in London, Glasgow or whatever outpost they have adopted in order to find success, very little if any ever returns to Northern Ireland.

IRD Kiltimagh Ltd. was formed in direct response to the high level of out-migration from the Kiltimagh area which formed one corner of the Black Triangle, an area in East Mayo renowned for its extraordinarily high levels of sustained emigration over many decades and the relative absence of employment.

A survey of the population migration in the Kiltimagh area was carried out in 1988 and the results showed that 75% of the youth (17 - 25 age group) of the area were forced to emigrate in order to find work.  The manifestation of this problem was evident in the town and its hinterland. Whole townlands had been wiped out, denuded of their population.

Partas is a social enterprise which was established in 1984 to combat unemployment and disadvantage within Tallaght. Partas has a staff of just over 70 and a voluntary board drawn from its membership.

Partas provides a complete range of enterprise/ employment supports to the most marginalised groups in our community, mainly to long-term unemployed people living in Tallaght.