Almost €450k announced for projects involving Louth County Council

Just under 450k has been awarded to three cross border projects involving Louth County Council under the Shared Ireland Fund.

The funding was announced yesterday by the Taoiseach, Michael Martin, of more than €4.3m allocated nationally to 15 lead Local Authorities in the South, working in partnership with 9 Councils in Northern Ireland to develop collaborative cross-border investment projects over the next 12 months. 

One project will be led by Louth County Council while two more will see Louth take a partnership role. 

€150,000 has been allocated for a feasibility project to develop Carlingford Lough as a tourism destination of excellence. The project will involve a cross-border study to audit existing activity tourism and identify new tourism offerings in the Carlingford Lough area providing the basis for a capital investment proposal to establish to area as a premier outdoor recreation destination on the island.

The project will be run in conjunction with Newry, Mourne & Down,East Border Region, Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland and the Loughs Agency.

Louth County Council will partner with other bodies on two further projects.

€147,000 has been granted to Meath County Council to Exploring Sustainable Nature Based Solutions to Coastal Erosion in the East Border Region.’ Local Authorities will work on a cross-border basis to identify the causes of and investigate nature-based adaptation options to address Coastal Erosion. Project to identify a number of demonstration sites for testing these innovative solutions, forming the basis for a new investment project.

Ards and North Down Borough Council, Newry Mourne and Down District Council and Louth County Council will work on the project. 

A further €148,000 was awarded to Monaghan County Council to develop a plan for how to restore peatlands in the region; delivering quantifiable emission reduction targets and areas of degraded peatlands in improving ecological conditions. Result of prioritised sites for peatland/wetland restoration forming an investment proposal to deliver benefits for biodiversity, climate and people.

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Newry Mourne and Down District Council, East Border Region Ltd, Ulster Wildlife and  Louth and Meath County Councils will partner on the project. 

Local Fine Gael TD, Fergus O’Dowd, has warmly welcomed news saying: 

 “As a border TD I am acutely aware of the positive impact cross border projects can have on our local communities and I’m delighted to see that two local projects were successfully funded in the first round of the scheme.”.

Deputy O’Dowd who is also the Chairperson of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, said:

 “This funding is excellent news and will further strengthen our connectivity in the border region, it also comes on the back of the recent news that the Narrow Water Bridge commencement works have begun.

 “The bridge which will be funded through the shared island fund will connect Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co Louth with Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co Down, with initial funding of €3m approved in June of last year.”