Mr. Paul Bell:

Louth County Council greatly welcomes this opportunity to address the committee on the future of community, social and economic development and co-operation in the Border counties. Communities throughout Ireland have faced difficult times over the past decade or so due to the prolonged economic crisis. Reductions in both central and local government support and funding, coupled with large gaps between vital programmes such as Interreg, Leader and Peace, have meant that it is been very difficult to either maintain or develop community infrastructure or facilities. The recent commencement of these programmes has been a tremendous boost for the people of County Louth.

People in border areas which are, by their nature, so often on the periphery and far from centres of government and power, have always considered that they suffer additional difficulty and disadvantage. The long recession has certainly exacerbated this problem and towns like Dundalk continue to suffer unemployment rates above the national average. The retail and hospitality sectors have been badly hit and our proximity to the Border, coupled with the ever-present challenge of fluctuating currency exchange rates, makes recovery that bit harder.

The decision of Britain to leave the European Union is an added challenge and at the present time, when so little is known with any certainty about what the final Brexit package might look like, there is widespread concern throughout the county in all sectors about the future. Cross-Border co-operation and cross-Border programmes have been an integral part of community, social and economic development in this area for many decades, including right throughout the Troubles. Most of the key programmes, such as Interreg and Peace, on which we rely so much, are at least partly funded by the European Union. While a reasonable degree of certainty has been brought to the current round of funding, a future without these programmes is almost unthinkable. If they cannot continue in their present form, similar replacement programmes must be developed and put in place by both Governments. Our own council’s close relationship with councils in Northern Ireland dates back to the early 1970s and we would not like to see this valuable co-operation damaged or diminished, especially as a result of Brexit.