Government officials from Northern Ireland and academics from Queens University, Belfast have paid a ‘really inspiring’ visit to Regeneration-led projects in Limerick to study best practices.
The delegation included the Queens University ‘Placemaking Academy,’ as well as officials from the Department of Justice and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. They visited a number of projects in Limerick city and in the four regeneration areas of Moyross, Southill, St Mary’s Park and Ballinacurra Weston.
The Limerick Regeneration Framework Implementation Plan (LRFIP) is one of the largest capital programmes in the State. It is the largest regeneration programme in the State. The Plan includes a €253m investment on physical infrastructure, €30m on social projects and €10m on economic programmes.
Suzie Clifford, Administrative Officer, Limerick Regeneration Directorate said:
“It was fantastic to be able to showcase the wonderful social initiatives that are happening across the four regeneration communities. The Northern Ireland delegation were hugely impressed by the Social Initiatives that are enabling children and families to maximise their life opportunities.”
The Placemaking Academy is a collaboration between Queen’s University Belfast and the Department for Communities, which brings together researchers, students and practitioners.
Dr Neil Galway, Director of Postgraduate Studies in Planning at Queens University Belfast explained:
“I’ve been working with staff in the Department for Communities, they’re the regeneration department in Northern Ireland, and they were keen to look at how we could provide some informal training in relation to placemaking. It’s largely about creating an informal space where staff working in central government, in councils, in housing executives, in heritage departments, within council regeneration teams can come together with students from Queens. We look at best practices in terms of regeneration, placemaking and dealing with big issues, be that resilience, climate change, reuse of historic buildings, pedestrianisation, all the stuff about making places better essentially.”
One of the Economic & Social Intervention Fund projects visited by the delegation was the Predevelopment Equine Programme at The Bays Youth Academy, Moyross.
Suzie Clifford said: “The delegation were really impressed to learn that seven young people from the programme have successfully graduated from the National RACE apprentice jockey programme. The project has had a positive impact on the community, with a number of young people subsequently accessing further education or employment opportunities in the racing industry.”
Gerard Murray, Director of the Regional Development Office in the Department for Communities said he is returning to Northern Ireland with fresh ideas:
“It was very interesting to hear about the innovative delivery approach being used for the strategic development schemes in the City Centre which will deliver a wide range of social and economic benefits for citizens. It was also really inspiring to see at first-hand how the Council is working in partnership with inspirational community leaders in Moyross to deliver programmes which are tackling complex social problems with strategic capital and resource investment. The testimonies we heard from some of the participants of these programmes were inspirational and demonstrated what is possible when there is genuine partnership between statutory and community leaders. Limerick is definitely a place on the up. We learned a lot from the visit and will of course steal all of the best ideas. Thanks again to everyone involved for a very successful visit.”
The Limerick Regeneration Framework Implementation Plan is funded by the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage.
