Mr. Francie Molloy:

I thank the previous group for the presentations. It is enlightening to hear the work that is going on and the commitment to delivering it. Reference was made to the Border corridor. I have always thought we could have an economic zone the full length of the Border. Would Ms Arthurs envisage the three or four groups along the Border linking up to try to create that in the future? It may not be necessary to maintain all of the groups in order to create such an economic corridor right across the Border on both sides. Have the witnesses found any possible sources of funding? The European Union provides cross-border funding to countries that border it in order to alleviate problems. It would be useful to see the examples of that.

In the past, the Assembly's finance committee approached the British Government on the possibility of funding from the European bank. The UK, as a net contributor to the European Union at that stage, was reluctant to fund too many projects in the North because it would have to co-fund them as well. That is one of the problems we have in that situation. If we could create an economic corridor along the Border, rather than being a Border of disadvantage it could become an advantage in the future.