The last number of years has seen Donegal County Council leading out on a number of new and innovative projects that will contribute to the long term benefit of the county.
Many of these projects are developed by working with other agencies and organisations including community based groups throughout the county.
A recently published newsletter, available on the Councils website provides information on the range of projects that the Council is currently leading out on.
Michael O hÉanaigh, Director of Community, Culture and Planning acknowledges the value of working jointly with key partners as the ‘cornerstone’ of how we do business.
“The Donegal County Development Board has been instrumental in enabling us to work in close partnership with various partners in the county to develop key strategic projects such as the €12 million funding confirmed for the North West Regional Science park that will see a 20,000sq ft extension to the Co-Lab facility at LYIT. It is evident that these projects are providing positive results for the county even in these challenging times”.
He added that “Donegal County Council has a good track record in working with agencies and organisations at a local, crossborder, national, European and international level and many of these connections have allowed us to create synergies and avail of opportunities that otherwise, would not have been open to us.
“The Donegal Diaspora project and the Donegal Gathering are great examples of how we are developing and strengthening the county’s global connections and networks to support the development of the county”.
Initiatives profiled in this newsletter range from community development based projects such as the Termon Project in Pettigo Tullyhommon to strategic tourism development projects such as Sliabh Liag and Sail West (Malin Waters) to public realm type initiatives such as the Lifford/Strabane Urban and Village Renewal project to various county wide community led peace building initiatives and many more.
Central to the success of many of these projects has been the Councils capacity to secure external funding through a number of mechanisms in particular EU funds such as the PEACE III and INTERREG IV Programmes and this approach is set to develop further with the setting up of a dedicated EU Funding and Policy Unit in the Council.
The primary focus of this Unit is to proactively target external funding opportunities to enable the Council and its partners to maximise opportunities that will allow it to promote the social, cultural and economic development of the county.
