Murphy announces over £700m of investment
Date published:
Finance Minister Conor Murphy has announced over £700m of new funding for infrastructure, regeneration, and tourism projects across the north.
The investment is the result of the Executive today agreeing to match fund £562m for City and Growth Deals and £55m for the Inclusive Future Fund. This match funding along with the British Government funding announced in May 2019 brings the total investment to £1.2bn.
The Executive has also agreed to provide up to an additional £100m for complementary projects where partners can demonstrate a viable capital project which is complementary to the City/Growth Deal proposals.
Finance Minister Conor Murphy said: “This investment package signals our desire to build a productive, regionally balanced and inclusive economy.
“The Executive is currently reacting to the COVID-19 emergency. We have already provided over £500m in grants and rates relief to support businesses survive the ongoing pandemic.
"We also need to plan for the longer-term. This investment of over £700m will provide investment in local areas and much needed jobs and offers hope for the future.”
The package provides at least £700m for the Belfast Region (which includes Antrim and Newtownabbey, Ards and North Down, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid and East Antrim and Newry and Mourne council areas), £252m for the Mid, South & West, £210m for Derry City and Strabane and £72m for Causeway Coast and Glens.
The funding will complement funding announced for the North West including the Magee Medical School and will deliver a number of potential projects such as; Derry’s riverside development, Phase II of the Belfast Rapid Transit, extension of the Gobbins, Newry Southern Relief road and a visitor destination experience at the Mourne Mountains.
Notes to editors:
- City & Growth Deals operate on the principle of match funding from the British Government and Devolved Administrations. The British Government has already committed to providing £562 million for the four City/Growth Deals. The Executive has also agreed to match the £55 million Inclusive Future Fund announced by the then Secretary of State in May 2019.
- Derry City & Strabane have received an additional £55m through the Inclusive Future Fund for projects that are complementary to their City Deal. The up to £100m Complementary Fund is for the other three City/Growth Deals if they also have projects that are complementary to their Deal.
- In the financial package which accompanied the New Decade, New Approach document the British Government committed to providing £45 million from the Inclusive Futures Fund to deliver a Graduate Entry Medical School in Derry.