Brendan Smith praises £500m cross-border fund, urges urgency
Brendan Smith welcomed a new cross-border initiative underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement and urged that the funding be clearly additional. He praised the commitment of £500 million to 2025 and called for urgent implementation and broad community involvement.
Support for new initiative
Brendan Smith welcomed Ingele and Oan and described the initiative as very welcoming and inclusive, firmly underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement and the progress made since April 1998.
Funding and additionality
He reiterated the Taoiseach's point that the funding is new and additional. He warned that previous programmes in border areas sometimes lacked true additionality when central and local government used new funds to replace normal investment.
Inclusion and community engagement
He welcomed plans for greater collaboration and for increased input from groups that have not always had a strong voice, citing women's groups and youth organisations. He referenced existing experience, knowledge and research on neighbourhood projects and cross-border schemes.
Urgency and implementation
He noted the £500 million commitment to 2025 is very welcome and emphasised the urgency of getting the programme under way and new structures in place, echoing comments from Antishuk and Cahiruk about speed of delivery.
Message to border communities
He said prompt development of good cross-border projects would send a strong message to nervous border communities about additional investment in both human and physical resources, and wished the initiative well on behalf of all the people of the island.
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Thank you very much. I welcome Ingele and Oan and wish them very well with their work. As Ingele said in our presentation, this new initiative and a very welcoming, inclusive initiative is very much underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement and the progress made since April of 1998. Of course, we also want to maximise the potential of the Good Friday Agreement and ensure that there is no diminution in any aspects of the Good Friday Agreement post Brexit as well. In the presentation, I think the Taoiseach speaking also made the point very strongly that this is new funding, it is additional funding. I know that in the past, those of us who represent border communities would have often argued that some of the new programmes that came to our areas, be it peace programmes, be it interreg programmes, sometimes it did not bring the additionality that it should, that central government and local government often use that funding to fund particular projects that should have been funded through the the normal government programmes of investment. It is very important that that message is given out clearly that this is new and additional funding because of this welcome initiative. I welcome the fact that you said there is going to be greater collaboration, greater input by often times groups that have not as much input as they should have had, such as women's groups, such as youth organisations as well. Thanks again for coming in the last do it have. I think that they have a broad, such a major organisation, and this is a really interesting topic for one of the people that want to learn more about the riippon neighbourhood projects. There is a lot of wealth of experience and knowledge and research done already in regard to projects that have the potential to bring that investment and grow our economy on a cross border basis as well. This £500 million to be committed up to 2025 is very welcome. It has brought million to be committed up to 2025 is very welcome. There is an urgency about getting this going and that has been reflected in comments by Antishuk as well. I think the quicker and you have outlined the urgency with regard to the new structures being put in place as well. We look forward to, as our Cahiruk said, good projects in our areas of a cross-border nature being developed and being earmarked for this investment. It would be a great message to go out to border communities that are nervous because of the Brexit that lies ahead of us as well, that there will be that additional investment in both human and physical resources. I wish you well in the important work that you have ahead of you on behalf of all the people of all of this island. Thank you.
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