Ireland South Sinn Féin MEP Kathleen Funchion has warned that Ireland South must fight to get its fair share of EU funding in the coming years and that any notion that the region could be excluded must be rejected.

MEP Funchion said:

“In my role as MEP on the Regional Development Committee, I am committed to ensuring that we retain a strong cohesion policy that delivers for all regions. Some in Brussels and across the EU want to exclude regions like Ireland South, which they see as statistically “developed”. I will work day and night to prevent that from happening.

“This week I engaged with the three Irish Regional Assemblies who presented their aims for the next period of EU Structural Funds. I also attended a hearing held by regions from across the EU here in Brussels.

“It is clear that the Irish regions and regions across the EU want a policy that will allow structural funds to be spent in all regions.

“Ireland South is a varied region with serious regional imbalances and even imbalances within counties or even cities. I will be battling to make sure the whole region reaches its potential through unlocking EU funding. That will be a fight and I am up for it.”