The John and Pat Hume Foundation and the Royal Irish Academy are organising a half day workshop on Wednesday 5 March 2025 in The Workhouse, 2 Erne Road, Enniskillen, BT74 6NN, on the need for balanced regional development in the South West.
The John and Pat Hume Foundation and RIA have hosted three seminars in Derry and Letterkenny on Balanced Regional Development in the North West, to highlight the need for rebalancing investment in jobs, economic regeneration and higher education the Greater North West.
John Hume, as ana MP and MEP, was a strong advocate of developing ‘a framework of a national policy of balanced regional development.’
Speakers include: Ciaran McManus, Director of Development & Support, SW College, John Daly Economist of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Professor Jonathan Levie, Co-Founder and Co-Director of CEGS and Professor of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics at the University of Galway, Mr Paul Hannigan VP for Cross-border Engagement, ATU Letterkenny, and Kate Clifford, director of Rural Community Network.
Professor Levie emphasised the need for greater local regional autonomy, Kate Clifford highlighted the need for rural proofing and John Daly proposed five key actions:
- “Develop urban centres of scale in the Northern and Western Region of the Island of Ireland, as a means of providing counterbalance to the Greater Dublin and Belfast Metropolitan Areas.
- Ring-fence capital expenditure budgets for key infrastructure projects in the Northern and Western Region of the island of Ireland (i.e. transport, higher and further education, R&D, digital).
- Focus on projects and programmes that will enhance the human capital profile of the Northern and Western Region of the island of Ireland (i.e. R&D, Innovation, Technology, Skills).
- Examine how greater regional and local autonomy can be delivered on the island of Ireland.
- Acknowledge the importance of regional development, and the potential costs of neglecting rural regions.”