Additional Growth Deal funding welcomed by Mid South West

5th May 2020

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The doubling of Growth Deal funding for the Mid South West announced by the Executive will help the region’s economy meet the longer term growth ambitions laid out in its Regional Economic Strategy, the Chair of the Mid South West Steering Group, Councillor Cathal Mallaghan has said.

He was speaking after Finance Minister Conor Murphy yesterday (Monday) said the Executive would match fund the Westminster government’s previously announced £126 million pledge, bringing the total Growth Deal funding for the region to £252 million.

It will be one of a number of funding streams which will be used to supercharge the economy across the Mid South West under its recently developed Regional Economic Strategy.

The strategy is focused on increasing productivity and creating more and better paid jobs in the Mid South West Region in a unique collaboration between Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Fermanagh & Omagh District Council and Mid Ulster District Council.

Councillor Mallaghan said: “We wholeheartedly welcome the Executive’s additional Growth Deal funding for the Mid South West. Support of this kind will guide the region toward a path of economic growth by addressing areas of need and making the process of doing business here easier and more efficient.”

“We have already carried out deep analysis of the Mid South West economy and identified the interventions where Growth Deal and other types of funding can be best spent to boost long-term prosperity across this region. That analysis and the subsequent Regional Economic Strategy was hugely important before coronavirus hit; it is now invaluable in ensuring the Mid South West looks forward to a prosperous future.”

“These are unprecedented times when decisive, impactful decisions of this nature are very much needed and a sure sign of good leadership.”

The Mid South West Regional Economic Strategy charts a course for the further development of the Mid South West Region itself and has been developed following a detailed analysis and consultation with government departments and agencies, InvestNI, skills bodies, business representative groups and educational institutions and universities.