AREA partnerships are not a topic of general conversation, but they represent a remarkable EU backed initiative which could have profound effects in the future.
They have been around since 1992 and are made up of public bodies, the social partners and community organisations.
Their job is to get these diverse organisations working together instead of in isolation or in opposition. They must also be able to show that they make a positive difference in the 38 areas, designated as disadvantaged, in which they operate.
Among the activities which partnerships have been responsible for or for which they have provided help are:
. Developing local businesses such as the Greencaps porter service at Dublin Airport. Partnerships have provided everything from loan guarantees to legal advice to unemployed people starting their own businesses.
. Matching local people with employers. This has particularly benefited people whose chances of getting work would otherwise be low because of where they are from.
. Boosting the educational chances of children and encouraging them to stay at school. This work includes supporting preschool services, working with the HomeSchool Liaison service and fostering links between industry and local schools.
. Encouraging tenants and local authorities to work together on the management of public housing estates. This can include refurbishment, security and environmental improvements.
Partnership is hard work. Jim O'Flynn, chief executive of Cork City Partnership, quotes a former chairman as saying there were 17 agendas around the table instead of just one. The partnership in Cork has 17 directors, including seven community representatives.
It's a big change from the past when "things were delivered locally without cognisance of what another partner might be doing".
In Cork, more than 100 community groups are members of a forum which meets regularly to put forward views to the partnership board. The forum gives community bodies - even relatively small groups a degree of access to public bodies, business, the unions and the partnership which it might otherwise be difficult to achieve.
A key point about the partnerships, says Jim O'Flynn, is that they have to be able to show that they are actually making a difference to continue being funded.
Cork City Partnership, he says, has no problem about this. He is proud of its work in reducing the phenomenon of early school leaving.
He is pleased also with its encouragement of tree planting and the creation of green areas, as well as other environmental improvements in disadvantaged areas of the city.
The various groups on the partnership work well together, he says. "The cooperation does exist. The partners in the process didn't have to be dragged screaming into the process.
The State's partnerships are overseen by Area Development Management which was set up in 1992 to support local economic and social development.
The report of ADM for 1995 shows that funding for partnerships ranges from £500,000 to £750,000 a year.
How long this will go on for is another matter. The partnership programme is due to end in 1999. What will happen to the partnerships after that is unclear.
It seems unlikely, however, that they will be allowed to simply disappear. The cooperation achieved by the partnerships provides real benefits, making services better and reducing the capacity for costly error by public bodies acting in isolation from each other and everyone else.