Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 June 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement

Engagement with Irish Central Border Area Network

Photo of John McGahonJohn McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is really good. I thank the delegates. It is great to see my friend Mr. David Maxwell, who is from Louth village. Mr. Maxwell and I are Fine Gael politicians from the Border area so we are an endangered species. It is great to see him.

There are a couple of points I want to touch on, one being on natural infrastructure, particularly from Sligo to Lough Neagh. Where I am from in County Louth, there is an initiative called the Louth seafood trail. I advocate connecting it with Newry and Mourne. The trail would bring people right up through County Louth and then they would get the Carlingford Lough ferry and go along the whole south Down coastline to experience the seafood on offer. Food trails are really interesting and good. Are the delegates doing something similar? They have the likes of Neven Maguire in west Cavan. I am referring to a food trail that could extend from Sligo right across the Border and into the North. Something like that would be really popular. What support is being received from local authorities on both sides of the Border? I find from experience that one local authority might be doing well with an idea while another, on the other side of the Border, might be a year behind in its planning. What has to be done to make sure the local authorities on each side of the Border are at the same level and at the same point in planning for a joint project? In this regard, where do the delegates come in?

The same goes for greenways because some local authorities are further along with their greenway projects than others.

How does ICBAN play a role in making sure local authorities are at the same level and standard, as they ought to be, in respect of joint projects?

As regards broadband, the witnesses referred to the broadband report that was commissioned. The State has invested substantial funding in broadband in the Republic. What is the level of investment in Northern Ireland? Is it at the level needed to get broadband into all towns and villages? For example, in the Republic we use the town and village renewal scheme in that regard, which is a really good way to set up broadband hubs and remote working hubs in rural villages. Are there similar schemes run by local authorities in Northern Ireland through which one can get remote working hubs into small villages? I understand there is a need for remote working hubs, but what is the vehicle in local authorities in Northern Ireland through which they can be delivered? Are there other types of funding streams?

To return to the issue of natural infrastructure, where is the key funding stream for natural infrastructure coming from? Should it be targeting the shared island unit or should there be a unique and more dedicated funding board for cross-Border projects such as these? From where does the majority of the funding stream for cross-Border projects come?

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.