Agenda item

            The Committee was provided with an update on progress to date on work to support the development of the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor and next steps in developing the work programme to achieve the ambitions of the corridor partnership.

            The Committee was reminded that, since the establishment of the partnership, partner councils had been working to shape its future direction and to find ways to work collaboratively to realise the potential benefits of the further development of the Corridor.

            It was reported that, in 2019, Dublin City University and Ulster University were commissioned to carry out research on behalf of the councils to inform how the councils could collaborate for mutual benefit between the cities of Dublin and Belfast and the regions between. The report detailed the current economic performance of the Corridor and the prospects for the region based on current trends. The report also began the work of identifying potential areas for cooperation which could create a stronger trajectory for growth in priority areas, including Research and Development Skills, Tourism, Infrastructure, Trade and Investment.

            It was explained that, since this initial research was undertaken, the global economy had been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in monumental declines in levels of economic activity across the board. The pandemic had also had an impact on the speed of the partnership’s plans to support economic regeneration across the corridor area, however, the pandemic had highlighted the interdependencies across the area and reinforced the need for a coordinated commitment to enhancing the future economic potential of the corridor. Therefore, the councils had proceeded with the development of the partnership and agreed to put in place an official launch event, which took place on 24th March, to showcase the work undertaken to date, highlighting the councils commitment to driving inclusive economic growth across the area.

            The Director of  Economic Development summarised the launch event and highlighted that the partnership was working to develop a plan of activity to progress the recommendations of the initial research, delivering against priority areas of work and identifying opportunities to access funding to support the development of the corridor.

            Some of the key action/areas of work to be undertaken to achieve this included:

·        First meeting of the political advisory group would take place in June 2021. Representatives from the Council include Councillors Dorrian, Beattie and Hanvey. The aim of this initial meeting would be to provide the group with an outline work plan and seek input and strategic advice on the future direction of the corridor partnership;

·        Governance structures had been extended to include a business advisory group This group would provide advice and guidance to support the strategic direction of the partnership and provide invaluable private sector input. Members of the partnership were currently working to agree representation that includes an adequate sectoral spread and mix of both large businesses and SME’s, the first meeting was expected to take place in August;

·        A marketing and communications steering group would be put in place led by Fingal County Council. Work was underway to develop a marketing and comms plan for the partnership to continue to raise awareness of the area across multiple marketing channels, this would include ongoing engagement with businesses to develop case studies and the development and delivery of a series of webinars aligned to priority areas of work;

·        The Chief Executive group had identified that an initial priority focus should be on Research and Development, therefore a scoping exercise was being undertaken to identify existing Research and Development focussed delivery across the area and identify gaps in delivery and potential opportunities for collaborative interventions;

·        A number of meetings had taken place to date to identify future funding opportunities with organisations including SEUPB and the Shared Island Unit. The partnership was now working to further scope out these opportunities and would be developing proposals aligned to priority areas for collaboration to deliver on the work programme being developed; and

·        There had been agreement by the partnership to develop a strategy and action plan which reflected the needs and economic opportunities for the region and sets out clearly articulated “asks” and “interventions” that could be supported by central and local government as well as the private sector. The terms of reference for this piece of work was currently being developed, it was expected that this would be procured in July 2021.

The Members of the Committee recommended that, in accordance with the Council decision of 4th May, the Chief Executive exercise her delegated authority to note the contents of this report and progress to date to develop the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor.