'Donegal and border counties cannot be penalised for statistical reclassification'

Donegal Sinn Féin Councillor, Jack Murray, has expressed concern about Donegal and border counties being negatively impacted by the EU's classifation of the Northern and Western Region.

Cllr Murray, who is a Member of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) and Chairperson of its Border Strategic Planning Area (SPA), said: "I am deeply concerned at confirmation from the European Commission that the Northern and Western Region will be reclassified as a 'More Developed Region' for the 2028–2034 EU funding period.

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This reclassification will see EU co-financing rates for major infrastructure projects fall from 60% to between 40% and 50%, significantly increasing the burden on the Irish Government at precisely the time when urgent investment is most needed in our border counties.

While the overall regional GDP per capita has risen to 104% of the EU average, this headline figure masks stark and unacceptable disparities. According to NWRA analysis, the five border counties — Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo and Monaghan — have a GDP per capita of just 70% of the EU27 average. In contrast, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon record 133%.

Donegal and the wider border region are being statistically pulled upwards by economic growth concentrated in Galway, yet the lived economic reality on the ground in border communities is entirely different.

As Chair of the Border SPA, I must stress that Donegal and the other border counties continue to suffer structural disadvantages arising from partition. For decades, partition has distorted infrastructure investment, market access, transport connectivity and economic development patterns across the north-west. These historic imbalances have never been fully corrected.

It is unacceptable that regions still grappling with the legacy of partition, peripherality and underinvestment should now lose out further because of aggregated regional statistics.

The NWRA has rightly called for urgent prioritisation of key infrastructure projects including: the Donegal TEN-T Road Network,, the N2 Clontibret to Border Road, the Western Rail Corridor and the A5 as well as upgrades to electricity and water infrastructure.

These are not luxury projects — they are essential to economic survival and balanced regional development.

Ireland remains one of the most centralised states in the OECD, with nearly 90% of public expenditure controlled by central government. Research consistently shows that highly centralised systems neglect remote and border regions.

Without meaningful decentralisation and ringfenced investment, disparities will continue to widen.

As a Member of the European Committee of the Regions, I personally will be raising this issue directly in Brussels and will be working with Kathleen Funchion MEP and Lynn Boylan MEP to have this raised in the European Parliament. EU cohesion policy exists to reduce disparities — not to entrench them through statistical technicalities.

The border counties should not be penalised for growth occurring elsewhere in the region. If anything, this moment demands a renewed and targeted commitment to ensuring Donegal and the wider border region can grow in line with, or above, the EU average."

Cllr Murray continued by saying that the Government must act: "The government must recognise the serious impact of this change for Donegal and ensure that reduced co-financing rates do not delay or cancel essential projects in border counties.

"They must ringfence funding within the revised National Development Plan for the five border counties and advance meaningful decentralisation to empower regional and local authorities to deliver infrastructure priorities.

Balanced regional development is not optional — it is fundamental to social cohesion, economic fairness and national unity.
Donegal and the border region deserve no less."