Meeting regional balance needs

agendaNi speaks to Conor Patterson, regional balance adviser at the Department for the Economy, about the need for a whole-of-government approach to meeting Northern Ireland’s regional balance needs.

There is consensus that too much of Northern Ireland’s inward investment and job creation has been concentrated in and around greater Belfast. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the region generates around £33 billion in gross value added (GVA), making up 65 per cent of Northern Ireland’s total.

In October 2024, then-Economy Minister Conor Murphy MLA launched the Sub-Regional Economic Plan, designed to correct long-standing disparities and rebalance economic development. At the heart of the plan is a £45 million Regional Balance Fund, unveiled in January 2025, which will be distributed across all 11 councils.

Each council has been tasked with establishing a local economic partnership (LEP). These partnerships aim to bring together representatives from business, further education, local enterprise agencies, and civil society to identify local economic barriers and design interventions suited to their area’s unique needs.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Newry, Mourne and Down LEP, Murphy emphasised that the approach is about empowering local decision-making. “Local issues require local solutions,” he stated at the time. “Partnerships will identify the main barriers to economic development and the priority interventions that will build the region’s value proposition. This £45 million Regional Balance Fund will help fund the actions the partnerships bring forward to drive economic development in their area and help deliver a regionally balanced economy where everyone shares the benefits of prosperity.”

Empowering councils to set priorities

For Patterson, Chief Executive of the Newry and Mourne Co-operative and Enterprise Agency, the announcements by the Department signal a decisive move away from centralised control which he believes can improve the region’s regional balance.

“The strategy shifts power to councils and allows them to define their own priorities and propose interventions that reflect their unique challenges and opportunities,” he explains. “We know there are areas not getting a fair bite of the cherry, and there was a groundswell of dissatisfaction, so we needed radical change in rebalancing things.”

Patterson says that the pattern of job promotion has been heavily skewed. “Previously, for example, 87 per cent of investment in promoting jobs was in the four councils in the greater Belfast area, leaving the other seven councils with just 13 per cent. That figure now becomes 65 per cent, which is a brutal target, but one the LEPs are already working towards.”

The first LEP meeting in Newry, Mourne and Down, he says, set the tone for how this new approach should unfold. “It emphasised local solutions for local issues,” Patterson says, adding: “That is what will make the difference in ensuring every part of Northern Ireland feels included in the economic story.”

Delivering regional balance

While the Department for the Economy has provided the framework and funding, the delivery of regional balance will depend heavily on Invest NI’s evolving strategy. Alan McKeown, Executive Director of Regional Business at Invest NI, has said that the organisation is aligning itself with the Minister’s plan.

“Invest NI’s regional strategy outlines our commitment to supporting regional balance,” McKeown said at the launch. “This includes a commitment to deliver 65 per cent of our investments outside the Belfast Metropolitan Area. These Local Economic Partnerships are crucial to delivering a locally focused approach to economic development and delivering on this commitment.”

Invest NI has set out four main priorities that shape how its support will be channelled:

• creating good jobs that provide long-term opportunities for local people;
• increasing productivity by backing businesses to innovate, upskill, and compete internationally;
• improving regional balance by steering a greater share of investment to councils outside greater Belfast; and
• decarbonisation, ensuring that economic growth contributes to Northern Ireland’s climate commitments.
  By working closely with councils and local stakeholders, Invest NI says that it aims to translate the high-level ambitions of the Sub-Regional Plan into projects that deliver lasting benefits for communities.

A whole-of-government challenge

Patterson stresses that regional balance cannot be achieved by Invest NI or the Department for the Economy alone. “It requires a joined-up, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” he says. “Education, infrastructure, health, housing – these all have an impact on economic development. Councils cannot solve every issue, but they can bring partners together in a way that reflects local realities.”

Marie Ward, Chair of Solace NI, echoed this sentiment at the Newry launch, noting that the new structures give councils the tools “to place regional balance at the centre of their ambitions, shaping economic priorities that will deliver capital investment against the Department’s ambitions of creating good jobs, delivering increased productivity, decarbonisation, and addressing sub-regional disparities”.

Looking ahead

For councils like Newry, Mourne and Down, the new funding and structures represent both opportunity and responsibility. Pete Byrne, who was Chair of the Council between 2024 and 2025, welcomed Murphy’s visit to its inaugural LEP meeting, highlighting how the new approach “will be an enabler for this local economic partnership to not only propose and develop local actions, but to take forward strategic investment opportunities for the district, addressing localised challenges, and delivering against the Department for Economy’s vision for economic growth and achieving regional balance”.

For Patterson, the challenge ahead will be to turn strategy into delivery. “We are at the start of a long journey,” he reflects. “The road to regional balance will not be smooth or quick, but the structures are now in place, the funding is on the table, and the political will is there. If we can harness that energy and commitment, then we can finally create an economy where no part of Northern Ireland feels left behind.”