Minister confirms investment in border counties
Newly elected Minister for Trade, Enterprise and employment, Peter Burke, has committed to invest in the border counties including Co Cavan.
In what was his first official visit to the Breffni county since taking over the Enterprise portfolio, the Minister spoke to The Anglo-Celt following the official opening of the new civil defence HQ at Pullamore on Friday afternoon (see tomorrow's print edition for full report and pictures).
He said there are “huge opportunities to seize upon” in the regions including the border counties and the Government and IDA will be looking more closely at those opportunities in the months ahead.
“As a minister from a large rural constituency myself - Longford/Westmeath - I want to see regional investment and I would give credit to the IDA in terms of job creation, which has been more focused on the regions over the last couple of years,” added the Minister.
“We have also seen a dramatic shift with regard to Enterprise Ireland with well over 60% of job creation in the regions as opposed to the five cities.
“So, we have a few things to look at: Firstly, the new updated strategy that is being drafted by the IDA. I would obviously have a heavy focus on the National Planning Framework, which wants to see strong investment in the regions. That is where the capacity and opportunity is particularly with regard to remote working and all the other interventions that we learned post pandemic.
“We have a huge opportunity to seize upon, so I’m looking forward as someone from regional Ireland to working with local authorities, and elected representatives in Dáil Eireann to support the regions and anything we can do for Co Cavan, we will be at the forefront in doing that.”
Meanwhile, entrepreneurial enterprise is very much at the heart of business life across Cavan and Monaghan with many indigenous industries leading the way in digital technologies and renewable energies.
Minister Burke insisted that the culture of underinvestment in the north west and border regions will come to an end.
“This is a dynamic that I want to see change,” he continued. “It must also be pointed out that Minister Heather Humphreys has invested millions of euro in Cavan and Monaghan in recent years and that is a very significant development.
“All of that feeds into improving infrastructure including roads as well as the development of recreational facilities and the availability of sports capital grants. As a Government, we have €160bn to deploy over the next decade in capital aid and the regions will be invested in.”