An Irish MEP has held “productive” meetings with senior EU Commission officials on the decline of northern and western regions in Ireland.
Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus met with European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira this week.
The Midlands–Northwest MEP also raised his concerns with the chair of the European Parliament’s Regional Development Committee, Younous Omarjee
The focus of the meetings was addressing the decline of the northern and western regions which include Connacht, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan.
Speaking after the meetings, MacManus commented:
“Firstly, I was struck by how knowledgeable both parties were in terms of the specific challenges facing our region.
“Importantly, they made it very clear their willingness to help. These were undoubtedly very productive engagements.”
Prior to the meetings, MacManus had met with various regional bodies including the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Western Development Commission, Ireland West Airport and the Atlantic Economic Corridor Business Forum.
The MEP also met representatives from University of Galway and the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), to hear their views on how regional development challenges can be addressed.
“It was very much a direct grassroots connection to the commission,” MacManus said.
“In the commission meetings, I strongly defended the needs of the region from infrastructure like Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) inclusion and investment on green and digital technologies.
“I also drew attention to the fact Ireland hasn’t drawn down a cent of the €900 million pot of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience fund.
“I also managed to secure several concrete actions from Omarjee to draw specific attention to the region,” the MEP said.
Commissioner Ferreira emphasised the need for Britain to implement its side of the PEACE programme. The EU initiative is designed to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border counties.
Regional decline
“It has become very clear that the Irish government presents a very Dublin-centric agenda in their dealings with Brussels,” MacManus said.
“This series of meetings and the events that will follow have re-engaged Brussels to the reality of other regions such as the north and west.
“It is my hope that I can now organise further direct engagements by inviting Brussels’ decision-makers to visit our region in person,” the MEP said.