Turns this was simply a matter of adding the plugins (which are not linked automatically) to stage packages:
parts:
workspace:
plugin: catkin
rosdistro: kinetic
# catkin-ros-master-uri: http://chivit:11311
catkin-packages: [demine_control_station, joy]
stage-packages:
# Here for the plugins-- they're not linked in automatically.
- libqt5core5a
- libqt5gui5
- libqt5quick5
- qmlscene
- qml-module-qtquick-controls
after: [desktop-qt5]
Now to figure out how to follow the same logic to get the ROS plugin included.
Edit: I just did a dump of the ROS plugin library. There’s may be a better way - but this is working fine for now.