EU funding programmes have been a key mechanism in enabling common solutions to be directed at common problems across European borders. Since 2003, ICBAN has been actively involved in securing and managing some €100 million of such funds for the Ireland / Northern Ireland border region. These have been across a range of programmes and funding cycles.
PEACEPLUS PROGRAMME 2021-2027
PEACEPLUS is a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)
More recently ICBAN’s efforts have been focused on the PEACEPLUS 2021-2027 Programme and the organisation has been engaging with a range of stakeholders and project partners in developing new projects for funding submissions and is now commencing with the implementation of those initiatives that have successfully been funded. Currently under the PEACEPLUS programme an additional €40 million of investment has been secured through ICBAN’s involvement as a Lead Partner or Project Partner, and these are profiled below. These are all in the formative stages of commencement and more information will be added when it becomes available.
- The FLOW (For the Love of Our Waters) Project has been approved for €5.16 million and is being led by ICBAN. It is a cross-border initiative aimed at addressing declining water quality in target catchment areas attributable to agricultural pressures and wastewater discharge. It will result in a solution designed to engage communities and make an active contribution to improved water quality in four cross-border water catchments: Lough Melvin, Upper and Lower Lough MacNean, Cladagh River and Kilroosky Lake Cluster.
The project aims to address declining water quality in these priority catchments by addressing agricultural pressures, waste water discharge and citizen activities, through:
Working with agri-businesses, including farmers, to encourage nutrient reduction
Developing measures to reduce sediment from soil erosion and surface run off
Addressing pressures from sewage infrastructure through capital investment in nature based solutions and in a new waste water treatment facility at Rossinver, Co. Leitrim
Preventing / controlling adverse impacts of invasive & alien species and introduced diseases.
Undertaking education and awareness activities for community led action, through local primary schools and for community associations in particular.
The Project Partners are detailed below and have pre-defined roles and responsibilities; Agri-food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI); Atlantic Technological University (ATU); Irish Central Border Area Network (ICBAN); Inland Fisheries Ireland; Ballinderry Rivers Trust; The Rivers Trust; Ulster University; Leitrim County Council; and LAWPRO – Local Authorities Water Programme.
RELATED JOB OPPORTUNITY:
ICBAN is recruiting in January / February 2026 for a Project Manager to help coordinate the contributions of the various project partners and stakeholders involved to deliver on the set outcomes and deliverables. The successful candidate should be accessible to the Erne Catchment project location, however the flexible nature of the role means that hybrid working arrangements will be facilitated. For further information on this exciting job opportunity please click here.
- GRASP (Green Accelerator Skills Programme) was approved for funding of €9.8 million and is being led by South West College (SWC). The project commenced in April 2025. GRASP aims to address a significant Green Skills deficit in the combined cross-border Construction Sector. The project will deliver a suite of ‘green skills’ qualifications, two green skills academies in Women Into Construction and Labour Activation, all as part of a regional Green Skills Training Strategy and Action Plan. The programme is designed to equip individual professionals, or employers looking to strengthen their workforce, with the knowledge and expertise to thrive in the low-carbon economy.
This unique programme is delivered through a powerful partnership involving: Further Education (FE) Colleges; Education and Training Boards (ETBs); Atlantic Technological University (ATU); and ICBAN. To learn more about the programme and the courses on offer to the likes of tradespersons, site managers, or senior decision-makers, visit the project webpage at GRASP | South West College.
RELATED JOB OPPORTUNITY:
ICBAN is recruiting in January / February 2026 for a Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, who will be responsible for co-ordinating the monitoring and evaluation function. Working collaboratively with project partners and other key stakeholders, you will play an important role in guiding project management activities throughout, thus ensuring outcomes and results are captured, understood and used to inform the implementation process, towards full achievement of the project benefits. The post will appeal to those seeking a flexible working arrangement, as hybrid working arrangements can be facilitated for the successful candidate. For further information on this exciting job opportunity please click here.
- DS3 (Smart Towns and Villages) Project was approved for funding of €3.27 million. The project has officially commenced as of 01st February 2025. DS3 is a strategic investment in digital services, digital supports, and digital spaces, to modernise, grow and future-proof a cluster of challenged towns and villages in the Central Border Region. ICBAN is the Lead Partner on the project, with project partners Cavan, Leitrim, Mid Ulster and Sligo Councils, Southern Regional College and Ulster University, and four associate partners: Armagh City Banbridge & Craigavon, Donegal and Monaghan Councils and the Western Development Commission.
- The GEMINI (Geothermal Momentum on the Island of Ireland) Project has been awarded funding of €20 million to develop the market for geothermal energy, to de-risk both shallow and deep geothermal energy projects, and to create conditions for job creation and public participation. Central Border Region sites include Sligo Regional Sports Centre, along with an opportunity for Lough MacNean area to examine related community initiatives. ICBAN’s roles as a Project Partner are in community engagement, and in developing a Guide for Planners. The project commenced on 16th September 2024, and a new website is currently being populated: www.geminigeothermal.com
PAST PROGRAMMES
INTERREG V
Under the INTERREG V Programme 2014-2020 ICBAN applied expertise and knowledge into SME support projects with a transnational focus. These projects brought learning and innovative ideas into addressing challenges in the Ireland / Northern Ireland border region. Between 2018-2022 two projects involving ICBAN were delivered under the EU Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme (NPA): Spot-Lit, and Digi2Market.
- Spot-Lit Project, 2018-2022
The untapped potential of literary tourism has been the focus of Spot-lit, to grow the literary tourism sector in the Northern Periphery and Arctic region. The programme supported organisations and businesses in this culturally rich region to grow, collaborate and better engage audiences together.
Literary Tourism is an emerging niche sector within the wider cultural tourism sector, where places with literary heritage offer author and fiction-related literary tourism opportunities, along with opportunities arising from literary festivals, trails and book shops. In the Central Border Region of Ireland / Northern Ireland, this would include literary rich locations such as Enniskillen, synonymous with the schooldays of Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett, Patrick Kavanagh in Iniskeen, County Monaghan, dramatist Brian Friel in Tyrone/Donegal & Derry-Londonderry, Seamus Heaney in Bellaghy in County Derry/Londonderry, and links to Jonathan Swift in Armagh.
The regions participating in the Spot-lit programme area were Northern Ireland, the Border Counties and West of Ireland, Eastern Finland, and South-West Scotland. Collectively, the region is home to world-class literary icons and landscapes, however, research suggests there is potential for this sector to work together and grow significantly. Current low levels of joined-up literary tourism activity in the Northern Periphery and Arctic Region make it a sector that is ripe for development.
The project included the development of a cluster network across the regions, a series of support programmes for SMEs, the development of 29 new literary products/services, along with shared learning and transnational marketing.
The project completed in March 2022 and here is a link to its website.
- Digi2Market Project, 2018-2022
The project has enabled SMEs in peripheral regions to increase sales and exports through the use of story-telling marketing techniques that integrate immersive technologies such as Virtual and Augmented reality. Virtual Reality (VR) is an interactive computer-generated experience that can be similar to the real world or fantastical. Augmented Reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where objects in the real-world are “augmented” by computer-generated sensory information.
The project has enabled the development of a range of innovative immersive digital technology tools for SMEs. These include a collaborative digital platform – the ‘Digital City’ – the project website that hosts marketing & sales and immersive technology toolkits, as well as providing a ‘gated community’ where SMEs can collaborate and achieve synergies of scale (and/or product offering) to enter new markets. Digi2Market has also provided for interactive collaboration facilities for Digital Hubs, Business Parks, and Knowledge Providers. Enterprises have been assisted in digitally supported environmental good practices in resource uses (taking into account supplies and deliveries). The project produced a good practice guide on Green Standards in marketing and sales for SMEs and the facilitation of their adoption by SMEs.
Digi2Market, like Spot-Lit, was funded by the EU INTERREG Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme. ICBAN partnered with a number of organisations in the project from Finland, Iceland and the Republic of Ireland, including the Lead Partner Údarás Na Gaeltachta.
The project completed in February 2022 and here is a link to its website.
INTERREG IV
ICBAN and partners were successful in securing over €14 million in funding from the INTERREG IVA 2007-2013 Programme. ICBAN assumed the role of Lead Partner in managing seven projects under the themes of Enterprise, Tourism and Collaboration.
INTERREG III
A total of €23 million was delivered under INTERREG IIIA for 70 projects across a spectrum of sectors; tourism development, robotics engineering, environmental education, etc.
For more information on the projects that were delivered under these the INTERREG IIIA and IVA programmes please visit Past Programmes.