Ministers and MLAs urge restoration of funding for city and growth deals
Stormont ministers and MLAs from across the parties have united to demand the restoration of funding for two city and growth deals in Northern Ireland.
Funding has been paused for the Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid Southwest deals while the Labour Government carries out a spending review after coming into office.
Initially, the UK Government announced the pausing of funding for four city and growth deals in the region, but it later emerged that deals covering Belfast region and Londonderry City and Strabane will not be affected by the suspension due to the advanced stage both were at.
The whole of Northern Ireland is covered by four city and growth deals worth a total of £1.7 billion with contributions from Westminster, Stormont, local government and private investment.
The Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid Southwest Growth Deals include the funding of projects such as the restoration of the historic Armagh Gaol and the regeneration of Dungiven and Bushmills.
Leaders from the two deals met with Stormont Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald at Parliament Buildings on Monday morning.
They later met with other ministers, including First Minister Michelle O'Neill as well as MLAs who stood together for photographs in a show of support.
Speaking in the chamber during questions for the Executive Office, Ms O'Neill said there was work to do in terms of fighting for the Mid Southwest and Causeway Coast and Glens deals, which she said the Executive was "determined to do".
Speaking to media, Ms Archibald said she was unwavering in her commitment to the deals and called for the pausing of funding from Westminster to be "lifted immediately".
"The continuation is undermining confidence and momentum in the delivery of these deals, a point that was made to me by the deal partners this morning, and today has once again reinforced that there is unanimous political support for this pause to be lifted," she said.
"My focus is on making the case for these deals and working with the deal partners to ensure their case is communicated very clearly to the British Government, that this funding has been committed and they need to honour their commitments to delivering on the funding to these deals, projects that have been worked on for a number of years.
"A great deal of time, effort and commitment has went in to the development of these projects and they will be game-changing.
"I have had the opportunity to go out and to visit each of the deal areas, and to get a sense of what the projects mean to the communities on the ground, so they now need to have the reassurance that they can get on ahead and deliver these deals so we can see the benefits to our local communities."
David Jackson, chief executive of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, said the pausing of the funding had been a "real body blow" for the local economy.
"We've been working on this deal for several years, we're trying to focus on the positives and hope this deal still proceeds because it is potentially a game-changer," he said.
"I can tell you at the moment we have private investment waiting to roll into the area and they won't sit around for too long. We've got some fabulous projects that have already been through business cases. They're very robust and a real opportunity to provide high-value jobs and further investment.
"I have complete confidence in the Executive. This morning, they were standing shoulder to shoulder with us, putting pressure on the British Government."
Councillor Kevin Savage, chair of the Mid Southwest governance group, said they are hopeful their deal will go ahead.
"It's too big to fail at this stage, five years have gone into this project so far," he said.
"We're very confident that this decision will be overturned."