Vol. 144 No. 4
I move:
In this time of hope and opportunity on the island, Seanad Éireann strongly supports the special programme of assistance and additional resources being made available by the European Union and the United States; and welcomes the more favourable climate for increasing the level of investment, tourism and trade on both sides of the Border.
By agreement each speaker will have 15 minutes.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to respond to a motion which is both helpful and opportune.
I welcome the significance which the motion attaches to the special programmes of assistance which the European Union and the United States are preparing in support of the peace process. The motion also rightly recognises that the climate for investment in tourism and trade on either side of the Border has been transformed by the developments of the past nine months.
With the ending of all paramilitary campaigns of violence, an unprecedented opportunity has been created for the economic and social regeneration of Northern Ireland and of the southern Border counties. We must work in every way possible to reconstruct the economic fabrics of the areas which have suffered most from these campaigns, whether directly or indirectly. We must do everything possible to bring badly needed investment and employment into areas which have been blighted by violence, unrest and deprivation for the past quarter of a century.
The additional resources which the European Union and the United States are generously making available in this context will make a key contribution to this process. They will help to consolidate the enormous achievements of the past nine months and to ensure that the peace which has taken hold becomes irreversible.
The Irish and British Governments wish to see the peace underpinned by real improvements in the material prospects of the populations, North and South, which have been worst affected by the last 25 years of violence. It is vital to ensure that the opening towards lasting peace, stability and prosperity which has now been created is utilised to the full. We must work together to realise the benefits of peace for both economies and to build a better future for all of the people of Ireland.
The European Union has launched a special support programme to assist the process of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border counties. Last December's European Council in Essen approved a package of assistance specially focused on peace and reconciliation which will amount to 300 million ECU over the three year period from 1995 to 1997, with the possibility of additional resources for a further two year period. This initiative is new and distinctive and additional to the European Union's existing Structural Fund assistance for Ireland. It will cover the following broad themes: employment, urban and rural regeneration, cross-Border development, social inclusion, productive investment and industrial development.
It is agreed that a maximum of 80 per cent of total funding under the initiative will be allocated to Northern Ireland and that a minimum of 20 per cent will be allocated to the six Border counties. It is also agreed, and this is particularly significant for the Border counties, that at least 15 per cent of total funding will be earmarked for activities carried out in a cross-Border context.
Guidelines for the initiative have been published by the European Commission. The Irish and British Governments are co-operating actively with the Commission at present to bring the initiative into effect with all possible speed. We have submitted a joint operational programme for the initiative which the Commission is currently examining. It is hoped that this programme can be finalised and adopted by the Commission before the summer break. When it is ready interested groups in the eligible area will be invited to submit applications for assistance under the individual headings of the programme. A great deal of work has already been done in this area and I hope it is completed as early as possible.
The Government regards the allocation for cross-Border development — at least 15 per cent — as a crucial component of the initiative. The scope for cross-Border co-operation in the areas covered by the initiative is enormous and we look forward to proposals being presented which will enable this dimension to be availed of in full. I am sure some of the Senators are familiar with the whole system of the operation of global grants in relation to Structural Funds. It is very much an application led process. To some extent we will be depending on the quality of the applications which come forward for qualification under the initiative.
The Government also attaches priority to the social inclusion element of the initiative. It is important that groups which have been disadvantaged or marginalised or who may be victims in other ways of the violence and instability of the past 25 years should receive support in meeting the challenge of peace. In that context a number of women's organisations have made representations that they should be included in the initiative.
Both Governments have engaged in an extensive consultation process as part of the preparation of the operational programme for the initiative. In this jurisdiction, a major conference was organised last April in Ballyconnell, County Cavan. All interest groups were given an opportunity to put forward their views on the areas which should receive priority attention under the programme and on other aspects of the initiative.
The two Governments have agreed with the Commission on the need for a "bottom-up" approach to the implementation of the initiative. Arrangements will be made to ensure that public consultation continues throughout the period of implementation and that local groups and interests have the maximum input into the decision making and delivery mechanism of the programme. Because of our experience in relation to EU structural funding and INTERREG, I am confident that groups in the Border counties will be in a very good position to present good applications to receive funding under the initiative. The initiative is designed explicitly to support the process of peace and reconciliation. All applications for assistance under it will be judged against the ability of the projects concerned to serve this process.
INTERREG is another special European Union support programme of direct relevance to the border counties. The purpose of this initiative is to help border areas prepare for a European Union without frontiers. The first INTERREG programme, which covered the period 1991-93, involved EU funding of £66 million which was then split evenly between North and South. The new North/South INTERREG II programme, which covers the period 1994-99, will involve the European Union committing £72 million to projects in the southern Border counties and a further £53 million to Northern Ireland.
INTERREG II is designed to help the Border areas throughout the Union to overcome their special developmental problems arising from their relative isolation and to promote the creation and development of networks of co-operation across internal Borders.
The North/South programme is divided into five sub-programmes, covering infrastructure — including roads, energy, transport and telecommunications — environmental protection — including the management of water resources and removal of pollutants — natural resources — agriculture, fisheries and forestry — human resources — training and education — and economic development — tourism, community development and special measures in economic development. These programmes aim to foster cross-Border co-operation and, while stand-alone projects on each side will continue to be eligible for aid, emphasis again will be placed on increasing the number and quality of joint or co-operative projects.
One major innovation vis-a-vis the INTERREG I programme will be the appointment of an INTERREG development officer in the Border region. The development officer will actively promote and publicise the INTERREG II programme. The officer will act as a filter for inquiries regarding eligibility of projects and assist with the creation of links between cross-Border groups. The development officer will operate on both sides of the Border and will have two sub-offices, one in Monaghan town and the other in Armagh city, located in the Border areas.
I look forward to a significant expansion in cross-Border links at all levels under both the peace initiative and the new INTERREG programme. The reestablishment of community and business links in the Border area, where for far too long economic development on both sides proceeded along parallel lines without any real attempt to coordinate policies, will strengthen the economic base in each jurisdiction and promote the common interests of North and South.
The legacy of disadvantage from which the southern Border counties have suffered is also being tackled by the International Fund for Ireland. The effects of the troubles in Northern Ireland on the Border counties, was recognised when the International Fund for Ireland was established in September 1986 as an expression of international support for the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The purpose of the fund is to act as a vehicle of international support for the promotion of economic and social development of those areas of both parts of Ireland which have suffered most severely from the consequences of the instability of recent years. It also encourages dialogue and reconciliation between Nationalists and Unionists throughout Ireland.
The fund is supported by contributions from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Since its inception, the fund has spent over £250 million on projects which have made an enormous contribution to the economic and social regeneration of the Border counties and Northern Ireland. This year the fund is expected to contribute approximately £50 million to projects in the eligible area, of which £13.7 million will be spent in the Border counties of the South.
The United States Administration, which is a major donor to the International Fund for Ireland, has also been in the forefront of support for the peace process. The recent White House Conference for Trade and Investment in Ireland, which was hosted by President Clinton, was a major element in the US Government's response to the changed political situation in Northern Ireland. In addition to this extraordinary presidential gesture, a range of specific initiatives to promote economic co-operation in individual sectors between the US and Irish interests, North and South, are being actively pursued at present by the relevant authorities.
The White House conference was the beginning of a process which is intended to highlight the attractions of investment in Northern Ireland and the Border counties. It provided a unique opportunity for the private sector and the State agencies in Northern Ireland and the southern Border counties to come together in a spirit of co-operation and to highlight the benefits of investing in these areas to several hundred leading American companies.
The relevant US authorities are planning follow-up in the form of sector specific missions which will bring potential US investors to these areas over the coming months. It is hoped that the first of these missions can be arranged for the autumn of this year. The Government will be working with the US authorities over the coming months to ensure that the follow-up trade missions are of maximum value and benefit.
President Clinton invested a great deal of his time, as well as the prestige of his office, in helping to ensure the success of the conference. Last November he noted that "this present opportunity for lasting peace in Ireland is the chance of a generation; it must be seized and supported". The President led the way himself, convening this remarkable conference as a means of demonstrating to the US private sector the enormous opportunities which arise in the new context of peace for profitable investment in Northern Ireland and the Border counties. All the people of this island. North and South, are profoundly in his debt.
The conference was in many ways a watershed in the development of the economic relationship between the United States and Ireland. It was an unqualified success which reflected great credit on all those involved in its preparation. I believe that in the medium and longer term we will see the fruits of the conference appear in the form of increased US investment in this island and in particular in the Border counties.
Speaker after speaker at the conference emphasised the advantages of Ireland, North and South, as a gateway to the European Union, the world's largest market. They also recognised the importance of a well educated, adaptable and English speaking labour force, a good infrastructural base and the strongly pro-business attitudes of both the Irish and British Governments. The Irish Ministers who attended the conference, together with Oireachtas and local representatives from the Border counties, took every opportunity to highlight the merits of the six southern Border counties as a location for US investment. In addition, the State agencies and officials worked hard to direct attention to the case for such investment.
The southern Border counties have suffered over the past 25 years from a double disadvantage. The very existence of the Border has adversely affected their economic and social development. Communities on both sides of the Border, living in towns and rural districts, have been cut off for generations from their natural hinterlands. The existence of a physical Border, with different rates of taxation and social security operating on either side, has caused substantial disruption to the local economy. Traditional economic and geographical entities were divided. Border areas on either side have found themselves on the periphery in terms of economic development.
This intrinsic disadvantage was greatly compounded by the troubles in Northern Ireland over the past 25 years. The campaigns of violence have had a serious disruptive effect in relation to the attraction of inward investment and tourism to the Border counties. The levels of foreign, and particularly US, investment in the Border counties are distinctly lower than elsewhere in the State. I believe that the various support programmes which the European Union and the United States are making available for Northern Ireland and the Border counties will make a significant impact in terms of addressing this legacy of disadvantage. I also believe that, with the consolidation of peace and the exploitation of the enormous potential which now arises for North-South co-operation, the coming years will offer greatly improved opportunities for these counties in the key areas of investment, trade and tourism.
The ending of paramilitary violence has transformed the atmosphere on this island. Business organisations, North and South, recognise the enormous benefits of a business environment which is enduringly stable and peaceful. Campaigns of violence and the resulting unrest and instability destroy business confidence and retard economic and social progress. In that respect the conference was particularly important, because, at the end of the day, when investors come to make decisions about locating in a specific area, such as a Border region, even a small doubt on the part of some of the senior executives can lead to a decision to locate elsewhere rather than in the Border counties.
There has never been a better time for the expansion of North/South business and trade co-operation. A survey published in The Sunday Tribune recently reflected the views of delegates to the annual general meeting of the Small Firms Association. The survey showed that 95 per cent of respondents believed that the possibility of increased North-South trade should be viewed as an opportunity while only 5 per cent believed it to be a threat. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed signalled their intention to increase their own firm's trade with Northern Ireland. This is very encouraging evidence of the determination of Irish business interests to take full advantage of the opportunities created by the peace process.
The Government is committed to a progressive expansion of North/South economic co-operation which will benefit all the people living on this island. Only good can flow from such co-operation and that is why the Government is determined to expand and strengthen it in every way possible.
We welcome the contribution which the European Union and US programmes of support will make, both to the revitalisation of the areas affected by the past 25 years of violence and to the deepening of North-South co-operation on this island.
The House is to be congratulated on the motion being debated this evening, which I strongly endorse. This is my first opportunity to address the House since the sad death of Senator Wilson. His voice would have been heard in the debate because he was born south of the Border and lived most of his life north of it. For many of us, he represented reconciliation in its deepest sense. It is a great pity to be speaking in his absence. I offer my sincere condolences to Members from all parties. In the time he was a Member of Seanad Éireann, he not only made political acquaintances but impressed all of us and made many deep and lasting friends.
I welcome the Minister. I hope that what we on this side say will be taken in the spirit that we too are concerned. I assure the Minister that what I say is not motivated by political point scoring.
The Minister should know it is nothing personal.
I thank the Leader who was very kind to agree to taking this motion in Government time. He did so from a realisation that it is important for the House to discuss this issue.
Elected Members from all parties in the six Border counties did not make any statements over the past 25 years and this has cost us dearly. The focus was largely on the six counties in Northern Ireland, mainly because people there were being killed. Public representatives on the southern side of the Border did not make statements which would aggravate the situation or make life difficult. The focus was on the problem in the northern six counties to the extent that when we discuss the subject even now, our psychological focus is on these counties and not on the six southern Border counties. This has cost us a great deal.
With respect to the Minister of State and other members of the Government, this is still not realised. The platitudes and concern being expressed are great but we do not have a focus on the problems in the southern Border counties. The concern rightly expressed by the Minister is not backed up by any action or intention. We are now forced to expose this situation to the point that the Government will have to take notice.
I have a document which states exactly what funds are available. The Government is organising meetings and seminars all over the place and there is utter confusion because groups believe money in abundance is available from Europe and all they have to do is hire a consultant and make an application proposing the right project to be allocated money. This is totally false. This is why over a period of five months I have consistently requested the opportunity to say this here.
The focus is so much on the North that even the EU cross-Border package, which is worth £139 million, was announced on 27 February by three MEPs and the EU Commissioner for Regional Development, Monika WulfMathies, in Belfast. There was no focus on the southern Border counties and we do not expect any from elected representatives in the six northern counties. The EU Commissioner referred to the southern Border counties but did not visit them or hold a conference there, in spite of numerous requests to the Tánaiste to organise a visit by the commissioner to these counties.
The package contains references to these counties but nothing else. A recent newspaper gave details of a rural development programme costing £6.2 million for the small village of Castlederg across the Border; £30 million is being spent on a project in Derry; £26 million is being provided for a factory in Altnagelvin etc. Every day mountains of money are pumped into the North.
When Mr. Ron Brown came to Ireland, I attended a breakfast in Derry to hear the case for the six northern and six southern Border counties. At this breakfast public representatives announced that they made sure they went to Washington to have President Clinton's adviser properly briefed. The six southern Border counties were not mentioned at this meeting. The Minister spoke about the value of the conference and I want to again put on record the value of the input of President Clinton and other elected representatives in the US who were unanimous in their support and showed generosity in organising this valuable conference.
I received the detailed reports.
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment never mentioned them. I sat in front of him; his own colleagues were embarrassed by it.
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment spoke at a breakfast in Washington and never mentioned the six southern Border counties.
The conference was about——
No. He talked about Ireland, North and South.
He never mentioned the six southern Border counties. I will apologise if I am wrong but my information is accurate. The Minister did not mention them.
It must not have been the same party.
I am not waging a political campaign and I am not seeking to be elected to any post. However, I am concerned about this issue. Public representatives from all parties have the same concerns. We are not on a political bandwagon but are demonstrating and expressing our utter revulsion at our lack of input.
Regional tourism organisations in the north-west do not have any money. We have a Border regional authority which has not received funding or any offer of funding. The Donegal County Enterprise Partnership Board, of which I am member, had all the slogans which the Minister rightly used — for example, the bottom up approach and community involvement. It has £1.1 million worth of projects on the table at present. I asked Deputy O'Rourke to take up this matter and to apply pressure. We had only £200,000, but within the past few days we got additional funding which will increase the amount to £500,000 for 1995. However, it costs £80,000 to run the office and if members of the board claim travelling expenses, it will cost more than the amount allocated. It is a joke. We talk about bottom up, but there is no bottom. The public will not be fooled. No emphasis has been placed on this.
I have reservations saying what I am about to say. It is now unattractive to set up an industry in the six southern Border counties because they must compete with those which have an abundance of funding. I was at the opening of a port at Lissahawley in County Derry by the former Commissioner for Regional Development, Mr. Bruce Millan. Although the port was to cost £90 million, it cost only £38 million. The former Commissioner said he was delighted to be there as he had seen the need for a port. He had no difficulty giving a commitment, which was obviously open ended. We do not have the same representatives or the same concern. What do we expect when the Minister for Enterprise and Employment failed to mention the six southern Border counties at the Washington Conference, which the Minister claimed was valuable? It was deplorable and I was shocked.
Like every local authority, my county has presented a submission for INTERREG funding. A lot of man hours went into putting that document together. It is a well thought out and detailed document compiled in accordance with what we were led to believe was available. Sadly, no matching funds are available. There is no money to support and finance the county enterprise boards which are providing employment. Tourism projects are now being referred to county enterprise boards because Bord Fáilte is not undertaking them. Somebody from the Department, whom I cannot name, told me that they do not see the county enterprise boards surviving for long because there is no will in the Department to finance them.
A Minister of State was appointed to ensure that the west would be developed, but we have not heard about it since. Border region organisations and Leader programmes have not received funding. We got a fair amount of flak from the Minister's party and others on the amount of money we were to get from the EU, whether it was £7 billion or £8 billion. We were told that we had made mistakes and that we had announced the wrong amount. Whether we got it right or wrong, none of us expected that we would be at a point where the allocation for county roads has been cut by £1 million in my county. We do not have funding to match the development funds which the Minister said are in place for developers in the six southern Border counties.
Perhaps my contribution is not easy to listen to, but I am telling the Minister the facts. Somebody must tell the Government that the public is aware that there is no funding or matching funding. If there is, where is it? How much will my county and the five other southern counties get? They will get nothing because we are not able to fix county roads or cut hedges. It is a disaster. This document, which took many man hours to compile, might as well go into the bin. However, I am not on a destructive mission. I hope the Minister is around long enough to read the document or to get somebody to read and to reply to my council and tell it what support it will get from the Department of Foreign Affairs or any other Department. This is not a secret document which I have in my hip pocket. It is an open document which has been discussed. Hopes and aspirations are very high.
I am close enough to the situation to know that despite the hype surrounding the Washington Conference and so on, we are going nowhere because no Minister has made an input or has shown any concern. This was borne out by the fact that the Minister for Enterprise and Employment failed to use the opportunity to put the case for the six southern Border counties. Nobody has done so since. Public representatives are waiting patiently to see what will happen. Each day they are inundated by inquiries and requests about funding, whether it is from the Delors package or the International Fund for Ireland. We are waiting for 75 per cent of the International Fund for Ireland and 80 per cent of the Delors package.
Compensation for destruction and deprivation in the North over the past 25 years has been paid by the British. It is not starting at a disadvantage. Factories want to set up in County Donegal, but they cannot afford to do so because, unlike in the North, no financial aid is available for a garment based industry in the South. Whether the Minister passes this message on or whether she believes me is a matter for herself. Those involved in public life are concerned. They know they will not be able to deliver because this Government was not concerned enough to have made a case for the six southern Border counties. This is the worst day of my 27 years in the House. I expected to hear the Tánaiste tell me what he was going to do for the six southern Border counties. Unfortunately, I have little confidence that anything will happen.
I welcome the Minister to the House. I rise in support of the motion and I am glad it is not contentious, although Senator McGowan made his views clear. However, no amendment is proposed and in that sense it is non-contentious.
It is great that we can stand in this House and speak about peace in the North. It is clear that the people who are most affected by the problems there deeply appreciate the fact that there is peace and they want it to continue. Those who did not live in the Border counties find it difficult to understand the conditions that pertained. People who lived a few hundred yards apart were obliged to travel miles in order to visit each other because of the closure of Border roads for security reasons. That was a fact of life and we lived with it for years.
There is an incredible sense of relief now. People can travel freely again. That was one of the basic rights conferred by the European Union and it was denied to us for so long. People can now drive into Armagh, Enniskillen and Belfast and visit their relatives or have a day out. They deeply appreciate, first, the loss they suffered for a long time and, second, the fact that the right has been restored to them.
We can cite many examples of where impediments were put in the way of ordinary discourse between people in Border counties. I agree with Senator McGowan that those impediments hampered development in the Border counties. Economic and social development was hampered for years.
The Border was there before the troubles started. It is clear from the Minister's speech that she and the Government recognise that before the conflict began in 1969 the Border effectively impeded people and prevented ordinary, co-operative things from happening. It was difficult at that time to cross the Border. One had to have bonding for one's car and so forth. We are not simply talking about the past 25 years. Since the foundation of the State there have been difficulties in the Border counties and I am glad that the Minister recognised that in her speech. She acknowledged that the southern Border counties suffered and that they need support in order to reach a level equal to that of the rest of the country.
It must be difficult for a Minister in a small country such as this to announce money for Border counties when there is no money available for areas a few miles away. We have encountered that difficulty and we get a certain amount of flak as a result. People say: "You have this fund, that fund and the other fund up there so what are you shouting about?" I do not accept that attitude, of course. I reject it. We have those funds because we need them badly and I am glad that the EU and the United States Government have always recognised that fact. There is a second INTERREG programme. The INTERREG programme recognises the fact that a border area has traditional problems that-other areas do not have. There would not have been such a programme without that recognition.
The International Fund for Ireland, established since 1986, also recognises the fact that the Border counties in the South suffered from the conflict and we received a percentage of that fund from the beginning. The fund has done a great deal to transform life in the Border counties. It has put us in a position where we can reap the benefits of peace in some sectors of the economy at least. The International Fund for Ireland has done an incredible amount of good work in the tourism industry by updating and modernising hotels, guesthouses and so forth. They are now in a position to reap the benefits of the peace.
I have always been a great admirer of the people in charge of the fund. They taught us that self help is good. Communities in the Border counties were aware of this before it happened anywhere else in the country. Before there was a Leader programme we had the IFI. Communities in the Border counties realised that with a little help they could do a great deal of work for themselves. Community groups are doing incredible things in the Border counties. They are ready to build factories and lease them to people who have a product they wish to produce. Three years ago that type of thing would have been unthinkable. There are good things happening in the Border counties and let us not lose sight of that.
The experience we have gained over the last number of years means that the programmes being introduced now will be better utilised. I support some of Senator McGowan sentiments. It obviously is a luxury to be in Opposition. I enjoyed that luxury in the Dáil and in this House for a number of years.
In fairness, we felt the same way in Government.
It is a luxury, but it is also a necessity. Let us face it, if nobody ever criticised Government action the public would not understand much of that action. There must be sensible criticism. It is part of our democratic process and it leads to a better understanding. Even when the Government is doing positive things there is criticism. I do not see much wrong with that. It helps to give everybody a better understanding of the action that is being undertaken, and that is good.
However, while criticism is necessary, some of it is unwarranted. There was clear recognition in the Minister's speech of the problems in the Border counties. Unless past Governments as well as the present Government were so advising administrations such as those in the US and in the EU, all the peace dividend money would probably have gone to Northern Ireland and we would have received none. However, our Governments and Ministers were sufficiently aware to offer the proper advice. People who make decisions must have access to local knowledge and advice. They obviously were given that.
A substantial amount of the Delors package will go to the southern side of the Border. President Clinton is hoping to increase the $20 million per year contribution to the IFI to $30 million. I am not sure if he can achieve that because the balance of power in the United States has changed and there is a feeling that foreign aid programmes will be slashed. Although he might have difficulty in achieving that figure, the President is committed to advancing the peace process in Ireland and to putting the money he has available to the best use possible in trying to assist the people who suffered most during the troubles.
There are difficulties. It is difficult to apply national policy to the Border counties. If one examines the earnings from tourism in the 26 counties, for example, which county is the lowest earner? It certainly is a Border county. The second lowest earner is also a Border county. Border counties such as Donegal and Louth have had a better opportunity to earn money from tourism. However, in Monaghan and Cavan — Leitrim is probably one of the better off counties — we have always had a problem. We did not have a product. When we became conscious that we should develop a product we did not have a market. Who wanted to come and visit us? Nobody; nobody wanted to enter the war zone.
We have a problem and we must solve it. Applying national tourism policy at a time when we are trying to develop tourism in the Border counties is not the correct policy. The Delors package should recognise this, and the national policy which says we have enough beds in Ireland today is not the kind of policy that we should pursue in the Border counties. We must recognise that investment did not happen in the past because people were afraid to invest. They now feel much more confident and are anxious to invest. The policy should recognise that we need many more beds in the Border counties, especially in County Cavan and County Monaghan where development has been even more retarded.
In talking to people in the North about tourism development I find that they are cock-a-hoop about it. They have a huge number of visitors coming into the North. Local, national and international tourism is booming. However, they all advise that they do not have the beds because they did not invest. Business people do not invest unless they can get a return on their investment. That investment did not happen in the North of Ireland and it must happen now.
We have no jurisdiction over the way the funds are to be applied in the North but we have such jurisdiction in the Border counties. On every possible occasion I have suggested that as well as recognising our present difficulties — and hopefully the Minister will accept what I have said about these — we need specific policies which may not be necessary for the rest of Ireland. We have great potential for tourism development. For example, in County Monaghan I see us developing our tourism by as much as 20 per cent to 30 per cent, the kind of figures that are mind boggling. We have many lakes that have been lying idle. Many English fishermen visited the region in the 1960s. The troubles started in 1969, the visits stopped and there was no more development. Over the past number of years we have been trying to improve the condition of our lakes to get people back. We will now be successful and will get them back. However, to do so we need more beds and we must improve the quality of the waters to ensure that the product we have to offer is such that when visitors arrive they will return. There are great opportunities which we must grasp with both hands.
The late Senator Gordon Wilson would have looked forward with glee to a motion of this kind because Gordon loved speaking about the North of Ireland. He had a simple philosophy about it. He believed that politicians should not play around with peoples' lives and that people had the potential for both good and evil. He also firmly believed that people had the potential to change. He would have loved to have been here with us this evening. It is a great shock to us that he cannot. I was unable to speak yesterday when Senators paid tribute to him. It is a great shock to us to find that he is now lying in state in Enniskillen this evening. Under normal circumstances he would be sitting in the House at this time and would be very happy to make his contribution to this debate. His death is an incredible loss to all of us. We remember his basic philosophy. I will never forget his basic, simple approach to life and the very intelligent way that he could simplify the core of his arguments. We all learned much from his contributions to the House. In his name, let us hope that we will have many more good contributions on Northern Ireland and that the peace process will continue apace.
In this respect I am proud of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, who, over the weekend set the basis for another move forward. The little things that happen every now and then are all adding up to people on the ground getting the feeling that the peace process is here to stay. They want it to stay and it is up to us to ensure that it does stay.
I propose to share my time with Senator Mooney.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome the Minister to the House. Like everybody else here, I am sure we will miss the late Senator Wilson's wise words on this topic. In his memory, it is even more essential that we take very seriously motions such as this and that we try to put forward the best ideas we have.
I thank both the EU and the USA Government for the generous allocation of moneys they have given to us for these projects. It is tremendous to note that we are now in a situation where we can become involved in INTERREG programmes which have been part of the general practice of the EU for so long in promoting development along internal borders. However, because of our troubled situation on this island, we have not been involved in this for some time.
There are enormous steps to be made in all of the Border counties and Senator McGowan is right to stress the problems that have arisen in the southern counties. Hopefully, an official bureaucratic industry, which would include the completion of forms, will not arise. A considerable number of community groups and groups consisting of small enterprises have attempted to get going but have told me that they have had considerable difficulty in getting assessment of their proposed projects, that the exercise has been fraught with delay and that inspections have gone on for too long. In areas where there is unemployment there must be a sense of urgency. Unemployment has been extraordinarily important in being associated with violence and problems in Northern Ireland which have spilled over into the southern counties. There should, therefore, be a greater sense of urgency and a little less bureaucracy in this area.
Hopefully, the initiatives will not be too narrowly interpreted. We must make the Border as permeable as possible. We should try to look at the whole area as if the Border did not exist, or to forget that there are two jurisdictions and proceed on that basis. For example, when I introduced an initiative regarding health co-operation to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation I never thought it would proceed so quickly. It has now gone beyond anything I ever suggested and nobody bothers to mention any more the fact that an ambulance will be based in the North and another in the South. For far too long we have been working back to back; we must now start to work facing each other.
Hopefully also the stretching of the human resources initiative will go as far as possible with regard to training and education. As degrees are reciprocal in my profession, I have suggested, especially at the senior house level where many people go to jobs around the country for six months, that one job should be included in Northern Ireland in each two year programme. This should not be too difficult to do. Those from Northern Ireland could come south of the Border also. The arrangement would give people a much better idea of the human contact and similarities which exist between ill and well people in both areas.
One of the most amazing initiatives we have started means that we now have communications before birth on this island. The Rotunda Hospital in Dublin and the maternity hospital in Belfast have set up an internet between each other. Scanning babies in utero, within the womb, was a very complicated problem and expertise takes time to develop. In view of this, babies from the Falls Road and the Shankill are scanned in Belfast but their photographs are very often fed down to Dublin where they are looked at to see if there are better ideas on what should be done about these children's health in utero. Similarly, scans of babies from the Liberties in Dublin and our equivalent of the Shankill are fed into the Rotunda and back up to Belfast if it is thought that the expertise in Belfast with regard to the health of these children could better look after them.
It is hoped to establish centres all over Ireland where this can be done, so that this specific expertise, which can only exist in a couple of centres around the country, will be available to the women of Ireland. It only costs £30,000 per grey box. I never miss an opportunity to ask a Minister for a few bob. Hopefully, the Minister will remember this and see if the INTERREG funds could be stretched to having the human resources initiative extended to involve the examination of Irish people, even before they properly arrive, within the country.
I am grateful to Senator Henry for sharing time with me. I endorse her final comments. If the Minister wishes to place several small grey boxes in the southern Border counties, we will be more than happy to welcome INTERREG funding to that end.
Is this a population explosion?
Absolutely. It might focus minds in the Border counties on reproduction, which is something we would welcome in County Leitrim. My wife and I are, in our own modest way, making the best contribution we can in the circumstances.
Hear, hear. I can vouch for that.
Thank you very much. The reason Senator Reynolds is beaming from ear to ear is that my wife is anticipating it again.
I welcome the Minister and thank her for her wide reflection on the motion. I endorse what Senator Cotter said. I detected within the content of the Minister's speech a recognition — I do not wish to score points but perhaps it was a belated recognition — of the problems facing the southern Border counties. Late or otherwise, I welcome it and acknowledge that it forms the central part of the Minister's contribution.
The significance of cross-Border funding has taken on a new urgency consequent on the paramilitary ceasefires of last August. At present the two main sources of funding are the International Fund for Ireland and INTERREG. In the case of the IFI, I take this opportunity to convey the appreciation of the people of County Leitrim — as chairman of Leitrim County Council I take that onerous task upon myself — and the other Border counties to the donor countries involved with that fund as outlined by the Minister. I would particularly thank the United States for its continuing support and commitment as the major donor to this important fund. Those of us who have followed events in Washington during the past number of months can only welcome the continuing commitment of both Houses of Congress to ensuring the safety of that donation from America, which has undergone severe attack and criticism but survived in a period of fiscal rectitude. I wish to commend Chairman Gillman of the House of Representatives and Congressman Sonny Callaghan of Alabama, chairman of the appropriations or budget committee of the House, who shepherded this through.
Since its inception in 1986 the fund has made a significant contribution to the economic and social well-being of the Border counties. There have been critics of the fund on both sides of the Border. In its initial period the Unionist community refused to have anything whatsoever to do with the fund because of its Anglo-Irish Agreement connotations. As Senator McGowan stated in his contribution, in recent years Unionist-dominated local authorities and communities have embraced the IFI with an enthusiasm, which has resulted in towns and villages across Northern Ireland benefiting significantly. This has created many of the difficulties to which Senator McGowan referred. On the southern side of the Border there was never any reluctance to take advantage of the fund, but we have been faced since its inception with a clear imbalance in how it is operated. The agreement between the British and Irish Governments in 1985 to expend 75 per cent of the fund in Northern Ireland has had a beneficial effect on communities there. The experience in the South has been much more controversial.
Senator McGowan cited the example of Castlederg. I could cite the example of Garrison, a village just across the Border in County Fermanagh, which is literally within a stone's throw, now that the Border road is open, from Rossinver, a village of similar size. I am sure Senator Reynolds will concur that Rossinver is devastated in economic terms. If a person travels across the Border to Garrison they will see a development which is staggering in its impact. A sum of £1 million was spent on creating a community hall, a social services centre, a concert hall, a bridge across the river and a state of the art shopping centre. This was done in a small village with no contribution required locally. It makes me feel a little frustrated at the operation of the fund. I do not wish this to be envious of the good people of Garrison in any way. My aunt lives there and would hit me over the head if I were to suggest that Garrison did not deserve the money it received.
That is one small example of what Senator McGowan was referring to and which I am attempting to convey. It has not been widely acknowledged that the southern Border counties have suffered painful economic isolation as a result of partition. The decline in population and economic activity in Border counties, such as County Leitrim, commenced not with the war in 1969 but with partition in 1922. This decline was exacerbated by the 25 years of violence in Northern Ireland, which had a devastating impact on the already fragile southern Border counties, particularly on inward investment and tourist development. Despite the difficulties experienced in the North, many of the northern Border counties escaped the ravages of physical destruction caused by the war. This point was also made by Senator McGowan but needs to be re-emphasised. In fact the British Government generously compensated the owners of bombed buildings.
A glance at any of the IFI annual reports since 1986 will show that a significant amount of money was spent on urban renewal in towns on the northern side of the Border which were already prosperous by southern Irish standards. Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, is a case in point. It is the nearest regional centre of affluence to my home in County Leitrim. Its proximity to Country Leitrim meant that Enniskillen's already wealthy and affluent hinterland was considerably enhanced by IFI funding to the detriment, I suggest, of towns and villages on the southern side. The ratio is 75 per cent to 25 per cent in favour of the northern side and the southern side has been excluded from the Crisp programme. This programme forms an integral part of urban development under the IFI and is 50 per cent funded by the Northern Irish Department of the Environment. This is where the non-local contribution comes in because 50 per cent of the Garrison community effort was funded by the IFI and the other 50 per cent came from Exchequer funding from the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland — the British Government, in other words.
This has resulted in no contribution being necessary from local communities and has been a source of irritation and frustration to those of us on the southern side. County Leitrim, for example, has received £200,000 from the IFI this year under a towns and villages programme which was set up in response to criticism from the southern side about the existence of the Crisp programme on the northern side. The difference between the example of Garrison and the £200,000 provided for County Leitrim is that my local authority must find £200,000 to match that provision. It does not have it. That is a microcosm of what is happening on the southern side of the Border.
I wish to briefly refer to the Washington Conference which I had the privilege to attend along with my colleagues from the Border counties. I must record my disappointment at the lack of emphasis on the southern Border counties by the Irish Minister present. This was in contrast to Baroness Denton, who on the morning in question sold Northern Ireland so brilliantly. I hate to admit it, but she literally wiped the floor with our Minister, good as he tried to be. It was a lacklustre performance which did not reflect full credit on the commitment shown here by the Minister that there is an acknowledgement of the difficulties of the southern Border counties. It was a missed opportunity and that view would be shared by all of the politicians who were present at the conference.
Exactly.
I will provide one small example. To an audience of 800 people on the final morning of the conference, when last impressions are nearly as important as first impressions, Baroness Denton asked those present from Northern Ireland to stand up, applaud and thank the President of the United States for the wonderful work and commitment he was showing toward Northern Ireland. It was a wonderful tour de force and a brilliant piece of PR. The lasting impression was that the conference was as much about Northern Ireland as it was about any other aspect of Ireland. That is why Senator McGowan's criticism is well merited. I am sad to have to say it.
No criticism was implied or stated at the time. I have always believed in the philosophy that if an Irish Minister is abroad, they are there flying the flag and representing our country. I will not — and I think it is a view shared by all Members irrespective of political viewpoint — stab that Minister in the back either at home or abroad but in the context of this debate I feel it is important to state that we were disappointed. I know that I have a time limit. I want to conclude as quickly as possible.
In one minute?
Right. The second source of funding is INTERREG, which is primarily for cross-Border projects of a tourist nature or those projects which have an economic basis. I request that the Government does not use this money as a substitute for Exchequer funding in the Border counties. It should be additional to any moneys normally allocated to the Border counties. It is widely accepted that the Border counties are a special case, which the Minister acknowledged earlier.
I would like to put on record my appreciation of the initiative taken by Mr. Jacques Delors, who, in one of his last acts as President of the EU Commission, launched the ceasefire fund now known as the Delors Initiative.
Once again I must express a certain disappointment with the ratio agreed, which will result in 80 per cent of this money going north and only 20 per cent going to the southern Border counties. It is obvious that once again there was little acknowledgement, either by the Irish Government or the European Union, of the special difficulties which we in the Border counties have experienced over many decades. I am pleased to acknowledge, and I gratefully acknowledge, that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, is on record as having committed the Government to providing matching funds under this heading and I, like my colleagues, await the public announcement of the guidelines for the dispersal of this EU money in the coming weeks.
I am also pleased to inform the House that, following an initiative I set in motion on my election as chairman of Leitrim County Council last July, a new relationship has developed between us and our colleagues in Fermanagh resulting in the recent creation of a central Border region network encompassing the counties of Leitrim, Fermanagh, Sligo, Cavan, Monaghan, south Donegal together with Omagh District Council. I want to pay particular tribute to Mr. Gerry Burns, the chief executive officer of Fermanagh District Council, for his total commitment to this unique concept and for his outstanding contribution to ensuring the network is now a reality. That is the note on which I wish to end because it was the note towards which the Minister was moving in her contribution; cross-Border initiatives of this nature is where the future of this funding lies. I hope, I know, we will get the support of the Government for this type of cross-Border initiative.
I am grateful for the extra time. I am also grateful to the Minister for coming into the House. It has shown a belated but welcome commitment to the difficulties that those on the southern side of the Border face in trying to emerge from the despair we found ourselves in over the last 25 years.
I have no difficulty with Senator Mooney taking some of my time as we are from the same county. We do not agree on everything but there are some things on which we do.
I hope this co-operation will be noted in the right circles.
I have no doubt it will. I welcome the motion and I fully support its wording. We have a wonderful opportunity to create a favourable climate to increase social and economic benefits in the Border regions. The Border counties, specifically on the southern side, have suffered greatly over the past 25 years. With the peace dividend, we now have an opportunity which we must embrace to make sure all the money being made available will be spent for the benefit of the whole region.
I listened to some of the comments and they amused me. As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, I know people should always look forward rather than back but, as a fledgling politician elected to Leitrim County Council, I remember the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. One of the dividends of that agreement was the International Fund for Ireland and I had the pleasure of proposing at a Leitrim County Council meeting that we should support the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. My Fianna Fáil colleagues, in their wisdom, voted against this proposal. If the Irish Government had taken that attitude, the International Fund for Ireland would never have been established. Since 1985, I have listened to numerous Fianna Fáil colleagues, nationally and locally, complain about the lack of money being spent on the southern side of the Border. The hypocrisy of it annoyed me in the sense that they wanted to vote against the Anglo-Irish Agreement but with the prospects of money becoming available they complained that not enough was being spent. I have to put this on the record because it is something that stayed with me, and will stay with me, until the end of my political career.
We will never have enough money; we will always look for more. If we look at the amount of work the International Fund for Ireland has done in the Border regions, we see it is hugely significant. I would like to see funds split 50/50 between North and South but I am prepared to accept 25 per cent because 25 per cent of £1 million is better that 100 per cent of nothing.
I also have a great fondness for the International Fund for Ireland. The flagship project of the fund must be the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell canal, the Erne-Shannon link. Being a local businessman as well as a local politician, I know the significance of the contribution that development has made. I said in the House this morning — I was prompted by Senator Mooney — that I always acknowledge the role of the former Taoiseach, Mr. Haughey, in making that project a reality; it was one of his pet projects. The International Fund for Ireland was the body which inspired the concept of the renovation of the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell canal. It cost £35 million and the people of the area will benefit greatly.
The role the International Fund for Ireland has played, North and South, cannot be underestimated. It has helped the whole region and it will continue to do so. I welcome the generosity of the US Government, the EU and the Governments of Canada, Australia and New Zealand who contributed to it.
INTERREG I, INTERREG II and the Delors package will play a significant part in the development of the region. Like my colleague Senator Mooney, I hope the Government would not consider the substitution of funds because we are getting this grant assistance — I see the Minister nodding, I am glad I have approval. We need infrastructural and capital development there all the time. The peace initiative has created a climate for the development of tourism in the Border and other areas. We need capital expenditure and it is very important that as much money as possible is put into the area and that substitution would not even be considered.
INTERREG II and the Delors package have a central role to play over the next four to five years. For some time many people have not been aware of the type of grants and financial assistance that are available. I welcome the fact that under the INTERREG II programme a development officer will be appointed. This officer's team will be central to the development that can take place. The climate is right, business people are willing to invest their money and communities are willing to invest their time. A development officer who can show them what is available will reduce the workload and the bureaucracy. I have no doubt the officer will play a central role in these programmes.
For 25 years Leitrim was the only-county not to have direct access to Northern Ireland. All five roads into County Fermanagh were closed — they were opened only after the IRA and loyalist ceasefires. The economic devastation caused on both sides of the Border because of this fact must be seen to be believed.
There is a little town in Leitrim called Kiltyclogher and it was like a ghost town. I remember canvassing there and about 40 per cent of the houses were unoccupied. Now many people are willing to return because they think there is a very positive attitude towards the development of the region. I have no doubt that will happen with all these funds that are available. My one plea is that bureaucracy does not get in the way.
Communities and business people are willing to work and invest. I hope they are not stymied by bureaucracy and administration. Administration is necessary but over-administration can cause frustration and stop people from investing and putting forward proposals which would be of immense benefit to the economic and social development of their areas and to the Border region.
I welcome the Minister's speech. As colleagues have said, she is aware of the situation pertaining in the Border area and I have no doubt the Government has taken on board the views of all the local communities. Now is the time for positive progress in the Border region. We have only one chance and we must make the best of it.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss the special programmes available to assist local development, particularly the programmes for the Border counties. I am grateful to the Minister and I welcome the appointment of a development officer in Monaghan town and another for Armagh city. It will be a flagship for the Border counties and for cross-Border co-operation. The development of the Armagh, Monaghan and Louth area is crucial to the success of the peace process. It is an area that has been forgotten for many years and has suffered great hardship as a result of the violence of the last 25 years. I am proud the Minister saw fit to appoint a development officer.
I urge all to examine these funds to ensure the best results are gained. As a result of the past 25 years of troubles in Northern Ireland the Border areas have suffered enormously through lack of investment and development. To reverse this we must plan carefully and receive the full backing of all funding agencies to ensure the area can be developed to its full potential. The current opportunities provided by the peace process and the funding made available by the European Union and the United States offer the people of the Border areas the opportunity of a lifetime.
The six Border counties of Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Louth have enormous potential for development. In co-operation with counties on the northern side of the Border the opportunities for development in tourism and trade are endless. This is why we must make every effort to ensure our plans produce the best results. Now is the time to put these plans in place.
I fear the six Border counties will not get the maximum benefit from the funds now available. The Government must ensure that all money coming to the Border counties is additional and it must not take money away from national allocations as happened this year in the allocations to county roads in Monaghan.
Much more money is needed to develop and provide real jobs in tourism. Our county enterprise boards are doing good work with their resources. However, greater co-ordination is essential. I find great confusion among people due to the large number of agencies dealing with the funds available. We need one central agency for the distribution of these funds to projects which will give the best return. This requires the immediate setting up of new structures and I urge the Government to show real commitment to the Border counties by examining this urgently.
In many cases I find the requirements for matching funding for local promoters of projects a great barrier to many worthwhile projects getting off the ground. This is a matter the Government must examine closely. The National Development Plan should be re-examined in the light of the peace process. It was completed before the peace was announced.
There are opportunities for major development in this favourable climate, but if we do not plan carefully in four or five years we may look back and regret the passing of a great opportunity for development for generations to come.
I thank the Senators who contributed to the debate. Some important points were made of which I have taken careful note. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and I are acutely aware of the needs of the Border counties. I married into a family from Dundalk and I know from personal experience how the Dundalk area has suffered from being cut off from its natural hinterland in the Newry and Mourne areas.
With regard to the Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan areas, I have always believed that once peace was established the area of south Armagh and north Monaghan would be ideal for a range of tourism initiatives given its unique history and contribution to Irish culture. There is an unnatural division between Donegal and Derry, two areas with so much in common. Senator Reynolds spoke about how Sligo and Leitrim in particular have been cut off from the North. We are now entering a new era.
The 80 per cent and 20 per cent calculation refers to a maximum and minimum respectively and we do not have to stick absolutely to those figures. It is, of course, influenced by the fact that the bulk of the money will go to areas which have suffered actual conflict as opposed to suffering from the effects of conflict, which has tended to be what has happened on the southern side of the Border. The proportionality is also based on the population in the respective areas.
I also take on board the points made in relation to bureaucratic difficulties. Given that we in the South have the experience of dealing with Structural and other EU Funds over a period of time and experience built up in relation to the International Fund for Ireland, we have enormous experience in potentially successful applications for funding. This would be crucially important and significant. With regard to INTERREG, the development officer will be able to give a message to those communities and areas which might not be fully aware of the funding that is available.
We are entering a new era and have already seen this year a remarkable upsurge in tourism in the North of Ireland and also in the whole of the island. It is particularly welcome to see the number of English tourists who have come back this year. The number of people from the South who are going northwards and the number of people from the North coming South are notable. I hope that the Border counties will be in a positive position to benefit from these developments.
I was not at the investment conference in Washington but I did read the reports. I was particularly struck by the presentations which were made by some of the United States participants, particularly from companies like Fruit of the Loom, who have experience of working and investing on both sides of the Border, and the powerful case they made for investment. Given that most of the conflict was in the North of Ireland, it is understandable, because the focus is on peacemaking, that there will be some focus and emphasis on those areas which have actually suffered violent conflict. There is also a clear focus in the operational programme on areas which have been marginalised or disadvantaged.
Everything which has been said today by Senators on both sides of the House emphasises the degree of marginality and peripherality which has been imposed on the Border counties. They have suffered from two disadvantages. The first is the actual existence of the Border, which in many cases, made cross-Border links virtually impossible at the height of the troubles and subsequently. Second, they have suffered by being on the periphery of the southern State and the northern counties are on the periphery of Northern Ireland. We are entering, as the motion says, a new era of hope. I can say on my own behalf and that of the Tánaiste that we will continue to give every attention and assistance, where possible, to the successful utilisation of all the funding available and to include in that the case of the Border counties.
When is it proposed to sit again?
Friday at 10.30 a.m.
