Local authorities in the north-west have made a fresh bid for overseas investment by starting a website promoting the region.
Located at irelandnorthwest.com, the site has been set up by the North West Region Cross Border Group to encourage investors to locate there. According to the Derry mayor, Cllr Pat Ramsey, it is important for the region's economic development that the area comprising Donegal, Derry, Limavady and Strabane be treated as one.
"Gone are the days when we tried to sell Derry as an attractive location on its own. We are selling Ireland North West now," he said. Recently the councillor led a delegation to the Dail to press for the establishment of a cross-Border investment body. He told the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, that he believed there should be significant development on the Derry-Letterkenny corridor, where there was vast potential for growth.
Cross-Border economic co-operation is gaining momentum in the north-west. The president of the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce, Mr Michael Boyd, said the structural and legislative barriers between Donegal and Derry should be broken down.
"Donegal has three times more unemployment than the rest of the State, while Derry's twice the rate of the rest of Northern Ireland," he said. Less than 4 per cent of graduates from the Letterkenny Institute of Technology actually stayed in Donegal. "It's a huge brain drain," he said.
The chamber is working with its counterparts in Derry, Limavady and Strabane "to try and stem the tide". He is hopeful that things will move forward more quickly with the reestablishment of the North-South institutions.
Mr Jack O'Herlihy, head of development at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology, said both jurisdictions had been isolated in past decades because of their peripheral locations and also because of the Troubles. "What is good for the economy in Derry is good for our economy," he said. "Together, we can make a critical mass, making the north-west an attractive proposition for investors."
The IDA and its counterpart in Derry, the IDB, met recently to explore ways in which they could work together to strengthen the economy and increase employment.
Mr Joe McHugh, of the IDA in Letterkenny, said Donegal was dependent on the North in terms of air access, rail network and ports. "What we are trying to do is maximise the focus on the north-west and highlight it as an economic development area. There is much more to be gained in co-operating with each other than there is in working separately," he said.
The new Website cites the skilled young workforce, the cheap labour and operation costs and an attractive quality of life as reasons why overseas investors should look to the northwest.