Northern Ireland’s Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir has announced that he has hired additional staff to help draw down EU funding in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Mairtin O’Muilleoir said new people, including economists, have been brought on board to “push through EU funding”.
A range of EU funding programmes are open to the community sector in Ireland, most notably Peace 4 which will offer €229 million to 2020, with additional matched funding from government, and INTERREG worth €240 million.
Mr O’Muilleoir said there had been anecdotal evidence about the potential negative impact of Brexit on funding and staff had already started working on EU applications.
“How do we speed them up, how do we make sure this money isn’t lost,” he said.
Mr O Muilleoir said there remained around £300m of European funding still on the cards for the province, and encouraged anyone with plans to apply for it to do so quickly.
“The deadline is now the Autumn Statement. If you don’t get an application in, through the complex process and signed up before then, you have no guarantee of future funding,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
He added:
“Despite the promise of the British Prime Minister to act in the interests of all, there has been no attempt to consult with myself, the Executive or the Irish government, about the best way forward in relation to European funds.”
Image: Euro notes – gena96 on Shutterstock
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