Irish Minister Heather Humphreys has announced plans to invest €28m in the Border region to help businesses doing business on the border prepare for Brexit.
The border between Northern Ireland and Ireland has been a highly contentious issue throughout the past several years of Brexit debates. With the UK set to leave the EU on January 31st, firms on both sides of the border are bracing themselves for potential trading disruption as well as planning for any new opportunities that may emerge.
Heather Humphreys, Ireland's Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, has now announced plans for a €28 million economic stimulus package to be given to the Border region, covering counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. The package is designed to mitigate the impact of Brexit and improve economic activity in the area, with a specific focus on smaller businesses.
Around €8.5m of the fund has been designated as the Brexit Transformation Fund with the goal of helping firms transform their businesses in the face of Brexit. A further €3m has been earmarked for the border counties Local Enterprise Offices to help support small and micro scale companies, and €1.5m will go toward Industry Fellowships in the border counties (administered by Science Foundation Ireland).
The final €15m will go to the competitive Border Enterprise Development Fund to be administered by Enterprise Ireland (EI), which invites companies to submit projects for consideration. Firms thinking of applying to this fund can access a grant of €15,000 to cover up to 50% of the costs of a feasibility study to investigate the viability of their projects and help prepare submissions.
Minister Humphreys commented on the plans: "This is a golden opportunity for businesses in the border region and I want to ensure that they get the maximum benefit out of this funding. I would therefore encourage companies to attend these workshops, details of which will be announced shortly, so that they can hear directly from our enterprise agencies about what’s involved. I want to see strong, innovative, industry-led proposals coming forward which will make a real and lasting difference to the region."
Source: businessworld.ie
