Ms Joan Martin:

To touch on some of what is covered in the document, we appreciate the fact that communities throughout Ireland have faced a difficult recession and are facing into a difficult future. I have tried to set out what differentiates the likes of Louth as a Border County. What I have said also applies to those areas of Donegal that lie close to Derry.

All of our community, economic and social development is now predicated on the Local Government Act, 2014, which requires local economic and community plans to be in place. That is the statutory plan which is our bible, as it were, for action and development, not just for the county councils but for many of the agencies also. The likes of the education and training boards, the HSE, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, and all of the other agencies are part of that local plan, which is common throughout Ireland. The statement we submitted sets out some of the goals we are talking about. They include strong, safe and flourishing communities; access to education; prosperous, inclusive communities and places; health and well-being; nurturing children; and an age-friendly society.

Louth was the first age-friendly county in Ireland and every county in the Republic is now part of the age-friendly communities programme. That is an important part of the culture and ethos in Louth.

We also talked about our economic goals. Before this new statutory plan, Louth had an economic forum with a multi-stakeholder approach for many years. Building on the work of the Louth economic forum, the economic goals of our new statutory plan deal with areas such as foreign direct investment, sustainable development, education and training, future-focused innovation, indigenous tourism and heritage. Last week, I was at two tourism conferences and in both cases we were very conscious of the fact that Louth is not recognised as a major tourism destination. Tourism is one of the greatest hopes for economic development in our county. However, with Brexit there is the danger of a hard Border turning us into a cul-de-sac instead of part of the Dublin-Belfast corridor. In addition, in Ireland's Ancient East, which is the counterbalance to the Wild Atlantic Way, Louth and Carlingford at the Border are at the extreme end of the Ireland's Ancient East map. We are always conscious that we are, in a way, hanging on the edge and in danger of falling off. These are the issues we face.

Following the end of the recession there has been a welcome return of a number of programmes that support community and economic development, such as the town and village renewal scheme and the recent renewal of the CLÁR. Such schemes from the Government are welcome. After ten hard years the smallest amount of funding can have a huge impact, particularly in smaller communities. What differentiates the Border area is the fact that for the past 20 years it has had considerable access to European funding. The INTERREG and PEACE programmes have been very important at every level, be it individual tiny communities, new businesses or soft support to try to build capacity or to deal with some of the challenges left from the Troubles. Those programmes have been at the heart of all our work. I have provided the committee with some figures relating to INTERREG. Under INTERREG IIIA, the cross-Border group we are part of supported programmes to the value of €25 million, and under the INTERREG IVA programme, which is the last programme that finished, our group, the east Border region, was the lead partner on €24 million worth of programmes. With the uncertainty with Brexit and the impact on the Border, not to mind matters such as the milk industry, agrifood and all the issues people mention, the loss of these programmes could devastate communities and opportunities for education, such as the universities working together, business and business support.

An all-island competition that has a huge impact, but little money behind it, is the Pride of Place competition. I have such a soft spot for it I felt I had to mention it. That competition encourages the smallest communities to step forward and showcase what their communities are doing and achieving and all the work that is taking place in those communities. Again, I worry about Brexit and the impact it will have on the Border and cross-Border co-operation, as well as what will happen to such programmes.

I will not detail everything because we have mentioned a number of matters. However, I am anxious to mention one project that has been funded recently under new INTERREG programme, the Carlingford Lough greenway. One hears a great deal about the famous Mulranny greenway in County Mayo, but there are many greenways in Ireland now. We have one along Carlingford Lough. Louth County Council had a project between Carlingford and Omeath on the southern shores of Carlingford Lough and our new project is a €3.5 million one under INTERREG VA, which will bring that greenway across to Newry. That is the true example of the value of programmes such as INTERREG and the type of value that comes from councils working together since 1974. Newry and Dundalk and Newry and Louth have been working together since 1974, throughout the Troubles and since then, both when there was no money and when there was money. We are very concerned that all of that good work and co-operation could be threatened by Brexit, its outcome and the loss of programmes such as INTERREG. INTERREG always had a section of the programme to deal with peripheral countries in order that countries at the edge of the EU always had access to funding. However, it is not the same.

We are delighted that the British Government in its letter triggering Article 50 specifically referred to the Northern Ireland issue, the importance of the cross-Border relationship and the many facets it encompasses. I have been referring to certain aspects of it and to programmes such as INTERREG. Ultimately, however, that greenway will allow somebody to walk or cycle from Carlingford in County Louth to Lough Neagh, between travelling on the greenway and accessing the towpath which runs from Newry. It is a phenomenal project that would never have happened without many decades of cross-Border work on building relationships and learning to work together. The INTERREG programme allows us the funding to take on significant programmes that can act as major catalysts to kick-start tourism in the Border area and in Northern Ireland.

In summary, successful communities in the Border area depend on a range of factors, including building capacity for self-help and development. They depend on a range of supports from local government, central government, other agencies and the EU to create wealth and opportunities for jobs, tourism and so forth. They also need a predictable future within which they can plan and hope. Many of the ingredients are in place and there has been the welcome return of the programmes I mentioned. We have great cross-Border relationships and co-operation. In our case that is not just through the east Border region that has been in place since 1974 but, in more recent years, through the formal international memorandum of understanding with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. We need all of these ingredients to remain at our disposal into the future.

The looming shadow and uncertainty of Brexit is probably the greatest area of concern. Everywhere one turns Brexit is on everybody's lips. As long as the uncertainty remains, and there was much talk about whether it would or would not happen, we will have no idea how it will look. We cannot be certain about anything. The 11 councils in the Border area, North and South, will hold a conference for our members in Enniskillen in a few weeks but, again, we will be talking about whether it will look like this or that. If I were to seek anything from the committee members and the Oireachtas, it would be continued pressure and a watching eye on what is happening in respect of the position of the Border area and Northern Ireland as the Brexit divorce proceedings, as people like to call them, go ahead. We must maintain pressure on those who are negotiating either on behalf of Ireland as part of the EU or on behalf of the British Government to ensure they remember these communities and businesses that are so worried and concerned and which could be devastated if the outcome is not the right one.