Green light for Causeway Coast and Mid South West deals welcomed
Funding for the deals had been paused earlier this year.
An announcement that growth deals for the Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid South West regions in Northern Ireland will proceed has been welcomed.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the deals will proceed to support growth, including in rural areas, as she unveiled the Budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Funding for the two deals, aimed to advance investment and infrastructure projects in specific areas, had been paused earlier this year.
It had been expected that the Belfast and Londonderry and Strabane deals would be paused too, but it later emerged they would not be affected because those deals were at a later stage.
Stormont leaders were united in opposition to the pausing of funding for the two deals, and vowed to work together to press for the deals to proceed.
Ms Reeves told the Commons: “To support growth, including in our rural areas, we will proceed with city and growth deals in Northern Ireland – in Causeway Coast and Glens, and Mid South West”.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he was delighted.
“We all understood how important the city deals were to the economic future of Northern Ireland and I’m delighted today that they are going to be going ahead, which is what we wanted,” he told the BBC.
“I look forward to signing the heads of terms for the Mid South West deal as quickly as possible. It’ll be a very important and a special day when that happens.”
First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she was delighted the growth deals have been secured, totalling more than £350m in investment.
“This joint investment from the Executive and the British Government will be a game changer for communities, creating better jobs and delivering transformative projects in infrastructure, education and tourism,” she said.
“With total investment from the City and Growth Deal across the north now exceeding £1.5bn, every community will reap the benefits.”
Stormont Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald welcomed the move.
“I am glad that common sense has prevailed and the right decision has been made to allow these game-changing growth deals to proceed for these regions,” she said.
“The announcement that the funding pause for both the Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid South West growth deals has been lifted is great news.
“These deals are a key driver to boost economic development and deliver regional balance.”
In a joint statement, the Mid South West Region and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council hailed a positive outcome.
“We welcome the news that the UK Government will stand by its funding commitments to the Mid South West and Causeway Coast and Glens growth deals,” they said.
“This is a very positive outcome which means that we can move forward on the development of our key innovation, green energy and decarbonisation projects designed to boost the economy in these regions.”
They added: “Work on projects including the £22 million Centre for Food and Drug Discovery (CFDD) in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area as well as the Industrial Decarbonisation Programme and Agri-food Robotics Automation Packaging Innovation Centre in the Mid South West Region can now go ahead, with the potential to create millions of pounds in return investment as well as thousands of jobs in these areas.
“These growth deals are crucial to delivering on the UK Government’s clear priority for sustainable economic growth and the NI Executive Economic plan to boost regional economic performance by delivering good jobs, increased productivity and reduced carbon emissions.
“We look forward to engaging with the Northern Ireland Office in the coming weeks to progress these deals to their respective next stages.”
