Call for €570m for north and west to boost projects including …
An analysis of funding allocations by the NWRA which has called for 'positive discrimination' for the northern and western regions. (Photo: NWRA)
The Northern and Western Regional Assembly’s (NWRA) made the call in its Pre-Budget 2024 submission document.
The report has said a stimulus package should amount to 2 per cent of the Northern and Western Region’s economy, which would amount to a package of €570 million and should be provided between now and the end of the current EU funding period of 2027.
It further calls for a policy of ‘positive discrimination’ to be be applied to rejuvenate the region and for a Citizens Assembly to be established to consider regional autonomy.
The document said the €570m funding injection would help drive forward a range of key projects in the Derry and Donegal region.
It calls for the enhancement of ‘the level of cross border funding to support the continued expansion of Ulster University’s Magee Campus in Derry, with a particular focus on improving collaboration in course development and research with Higher Education Institutes located in the Northern and Western Region of Ireland’.
The NWRA are also demanding ‘a policy of “Positive Discrimination” towards the Northern and Western Region’.
It urges the development of the proposed ‘new rail line between Letterkenny and Derry City, as outlined in the consultation on the All-Island Rail Review’; the prioritisation of the N2 and A5 roads between Derry/Donegal and Dublin; and the delivery of the East Donegal to Derry links proposed under the European Union Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
Three sections of the road network in the Laggan area have been identified as priority routes under the European-wide road scheme which is still awaiting approval from the Department of Transport.
The Donegal TEN-T projects include an upgrade to the N56-N13 Letterkenny to Manorcunningham section, as well as a realignment of the N14, which runs behind Derry from Manor to Lifford, to ensure it connects seamlessly with the A5, and the proposed N15-N13 Ballybofey to Stranorlar bypass.
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The NWRA point out how the region is ‘underperforming compared to Irish and European counterparts in areas key to developing high-valued economic growth – particularly in the area of infrastructure – with the region ranks 218th out of 234 regions in the EU27 in terms of infrastructure’.
Donegal Fianna Fáil Senator Niall Blaney welcomed the report.
Speaking in the Seanad he spoke of ‘the deficit in the whole region, going back to when the EU gave it objective 1 status’.
"That was about levelling up to ensure that we got our spend per capita in line with the rest of the country. That is now over 20 years ago and we are still in the same position where we are playing catch up.
"The report...is very welcome and timely, coming just before the budget. I implore the Leader to give a good sense of that to the Government. It is really important. The Leader has been very strong about rail lines along the western seaboard.
"There is the N17, which is not progressing, the Galway bypass, the N2 and A5, which has been lobbied on for well over 20 years, and the lack of rail line across that whole region.
"Many counties there have no rail. It is unacceptable. For Donegal, because the N2 and A5 has not progressed, the trans-European transport network, TEN-T, project is sitting with the Department of Transport waiting to move to the next phase. I know it is being assessed but the quicker it moves on the better,” he stated.
NW road proposals under €750bn EU TEN-T scheme are advancing[2]
Responding to Senator Blaney, the Mayo-based Fianna Fáil Leader of the Seanad, Lisa Chambers, said: “Senator Blaney highlighted the call from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly for the north west to be classified by the European Commission as a region in transition and the need to invest positively in the area to bring it on to a par with other regions. I certainly agree with his remarks.”
John Daly, Economist with the Northern and Western Regional Assembly noted that: “A legacy of underinvestment continues to inhibit the growth ambitions of the Northern and Western Region of Ireland.
"Without access to modern road, public transport, health and port services, our region will never be able to provide a meaningful counterbalance to the rapid expansion of the Greater Dublin Area and avoid the overconcentration of population in the east of Ireland.
"That’s why we are calling on the Government to provide the Northern and Western Region with a €570m stimulus package to kickstart high valued development and save the region from its economic stagnation.
“Our proposal for a multi-million-euro stimulus package would support projects and initiatives designed to stimulate high-value economic activity in the Northern and Western Region of Ireland, helping to ensure our region becomes smarter in how we educate and train people, more specialised in the types of enterprise we attract and more urban in how we grow our housing stock.”
Into the West urges public to seize last chance to stop Derry being only city left with sub-200km/hr rail services[3]
NWRA Director Denis Kelly commented: “It’s important that the Government recognise the specific economic challenges we face in the Northern and Western region as well as the opportunity that such a stimulus package would present in terms of rebalancing development for the benefit of the country as a whole. Failure to do so, will see population and employment to be overly concentrated in the Greater Dublin Area, to the detriment of the rest of the country.”
Councillor John Naughten, Cathaoirleach of the NWRA, said: “Ireland’s Northern and Western region has for decades suffered from underinvestment in critical enabling infrastructure. This time we cannot afford to have history repeat itself.
"An economic stimulus would give the region a once in a lifetime opportunity to reverse economic malaise and give our young people hope for a better future, in this region.”
Derry and Donegal rail links estimated £2.1-£3.3bn, could start 2030-40, be finished 2040-50[4]
References
- ^ Business case for Derry-Donegal road links under €750bn EU TEN-T network due in early 2023 (www.derryjournal.com)
- ^ NW road proposals under €750bn EU TEN-T scheme are advancing (www.derryjournal.com)
- ^ Into the West urges public to seize last chance to stop Derry being only city left with sub-200km/hr rail services (www.derryjournal.com)
- ^ Derry and Donegal rail links estimated £2.1-£3.3bn, could start 2030-40, be finished 2040-50 (www.derryjournal.com)