Monaghan organisations and communities are to benefit from inclusion in a substantial Nordic funding programme.

The Northern and Periphery Arctic Programme enables Ireland’s border and west region to partner with Nordic communities with a focus on promoting sustainable development. The Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme forms a cooperation between eight programme partner countries; including Finland, Ireland, Sweden and in cooperation with the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Norway.

The new NPA Programme for 2021-27 was recently announced, and for the first time, Monaghan is included in the programme’s fundable region.

As a result of this inclusion, the NWRA invited the NPA Committee to host its next meeting in Monaghan, this meeting which will include attendees from Norway, Sweden & Finland, will take place on 28^th September.

David Minton, Director of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly said that ‘over the past six years alone, the NPA programme invested over €56 million across our communities. We hope that with Monaghan’s inclusion in the new NPA programme area for 2021-27, this will mean a direct benefit to organisations and communities in Monaghan in the coming yearsMinton, went on to say that ‘the population of the Nordic countries totals 27 million. It is a prosperous region with GDP per capita far exceeding the EU average. The Nordics are important-export markets and economies that foster significant levels of entrepreneurship, innovation, and scientific research. Today, we enjoy strong partnerships with each of the Nordic countries. Like Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway are relatively small countries, they have rural communities very similar to Monaghan, with shared challenges, shared industry and there is real opportunity for facilitating both “business-to-business exchanges and community-to-community exchanges in green transition, renewable energy and ag-innovation’.

Minton characterised Ireland and the Nordics “as natural partners whose technological and scientific expertise is capable of creating a genuine research and business partnerships”.

Explaining how the opportunity to include Monaghan arose, Cllr David Maxwell (former Chair of the NWRA) ‘recognised that Ireland had just applied for a seat with the Arctic Council. The NWRA is National Contact Point for the NPA programme, but Monaghan had been excluded previously. We negotiated the inclusion of Monaghan for the period of 2021-2027. It’s a huge opportunity when you consider Ireland has trade worth more than €15 billion annually with the Nordics. In a post-Brexit Europe, the Nordics “are in a sense our new home market”, he said.

Cllr Maxwell added ‘the NPA is a funding tool to connect business, industry and communities. I would encourage those interested to join the new EU Funding Network set up by the NWRA to get updates, news and information on funding calls’.

Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council Cllr Sean Conlon commented ‘he is looking forward to welcoming the programme monitoring committee to County Monaghan. Monaghan is always open to new partnerships and collaboration. The NPA opens up a channel to countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland and others that previously might not have existed. It is an opportunity to exchange ideas on technology, better public services, innovation and sustainable development’.

Travis O’Doherty, EU Programme Manager with NWRA added his support for the opportunity to explore new innovative partnerships. “Monaghan County Council has extensive expertise working in both cross-border and transnational EU programmes. Their teams have been to the forefront of these opportunities. The programme operates in a multi-layered policy landscape, and we are looking forward to examining areas relating to circular economy, sustainability and innovation’.

Over the past five years, the NWRA has worked with local and regional stakeholders to maximise the return from available EU funding sources. There has been a year on year increase in successful funding opportunities and Minton encourages anyone interested to ‘register with our new EU Funding Network.

• Failure to support the North & West’s economy will undermine Project Ireland 2040
• Decline in the region’s economy requires stimulus package by Government
• The North & West needs a sizeable stimulus package and a policy of “Positive Discrimination”.

The Northern and Western Regional Assembly’s (NWRA) Pre-Budget 2023 submission has highlighted the significant economic challenges facing their communities and how these challenges are leading to a rise in regional inequalities in Ireland.

Research conducted by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly found that the decline in the region’s economy has also been accompanied by long-term underinvestment in the region’s key infrastructure assets.

John Daly – NWRA’s Chief Economist – said: “The decline in the North and West’s economy is evident from the European Commission’s decision to downgrade the region’s economic status from a ‘More Developed Region’ to a ‘Transition Region’ – the only region in Ireland to hold such a status – while the North & West was the only region in Ireland to be classified as a ‘Moderate Innovator’, namely a region with an innovation index score between 70% and 100% of the EU average.”

Mr Daly added: “It is clear that these economic challenges are undermining the implementation of the objectives of Project Ireland 2040 – namely to support the delivery of balanced regional development in Ireland – with regional inequalities in Ireland continuing to rise in recent years.

For example, the estimated gap in disposable income between the North & West and the national average has increased to €3,237 per person in 2020, which was nearly three times higher than the corresponding gap in 2010 – when it was only €1,135 – and the gap in 2000, when it was €1,307”

The Assembly’s Pre-Budget submission shows that the decline in the Northern and Western regions economy was also accompanied by long-term underinvestment particularly in the area of education. Notably between 2011 and 2021, Mr Daly revealed that capital investment in higher education infrastructure in the North-West – on average – amounted to €259 per undergraduate enrolled compared to a national norm of €356, while capital spending on higher education in the North-West was below the State norm in 8 out of the last 11 years.

In light of this, the NWRA’s submission is calling on Budget 2023 to rejuvenate the North & West’s economy and to address the long-term underinvestment in the region’s infrastructure.

David Minton – Director of the NWRA – said: “Budget 2023 will be crucial to overcoming the economic challenges facing our region. Failure to address these challenges could exacerbate regional disparities and weaken the ability of policymakers to deliver balanced regional development in Ireland. Therefore, our submission is calling for a sizeable stimulus package for the North &West of Ireland, a capital investment policy of “Positive Discrimination” and a wide range of investment priorities which will support the implementation of Project Ireland 2040 and the Programme for Government.

Mr Minton added: “In total, we have outlined 45 investment priorities that the Assembly would like to see reflected in Budget 2023, with our priorities ranging from supporting the new Atlantic

Technological University, improving the region’s digital and transport infrastructure, creating low-carbon economy training centres and ensuring a ‘Just and Fair’ low carbon transition. We need to bring communities with us”

Figure 1: GDP per capita – as a percentage of the EU27 average – for the NUTS 2 Regions of Ireland, 2000-2020 (PPS[1])

[1] Purchasing power standard

Source: Eurostat

Figure 2: Regional Innovation Scoreboard, 2021

Source: European Commission

Download the Submission