MEP's from the EU's
Regional Development Committee will be in Donegal
today and tomorrow for an intensive round of
engagements.
The first will be at the PEACE-funded Lifford
Courthouse at 4pm today to allow local groups who
received EU funding, to showcase their projects at a
number of stands. They will also get to outline the
various socio-economic benefits that have been
brought to the region as a result of such funds.
The delegation will then travel to Jackson's Hotel
in Ballybofey, where it will meet with the chief
executives and chairpersons of the local councils as
well as representatives of the North West Cross
Border Council Partnership (NWCBG) and officials
from the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and the
IFI. Sinn Féin's Senator Pearse Doherty said the
visit would provide a "golden opportunity" for key
stakeholders in the North West to lobby for the
infrastructural and economic needs of the region.
"The North West region was not included in the
original plan of this powerful EU committee's fact
finding mission to Ireland, so I would like to take
this opportunity to commend my party colleague
Bairbre de Brún MEP, for securing, after intensive
lobbying, the inclusion of this series of
engagements with key stakeholders the North West in
the itinerary of this delegation," he said.
Before leaving on Tuesday morning, the delegation
will have a working breakfast with chambers of
commerce from throughout the North West. The Irish
visit will take three days in total during which the
committee will also meet the North's First and
Deputy First Minister, the North/South Ministerial
Council and the Government in Dublin.
"At a time when we are preparing for the new
territorial cooperation/ Interrreg measures it is a
golden opportunity to make a unified case for the
region directly to these MEPs," added Senator
Doherty. |
