merrion street

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D., today announced details of EMFF grants of €4 million, awarded by Ireland’s 7 Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) to 274 coastal based projects, supporting total investment of €6.4 million.  The grants are co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union under Ireland’s European Maritime & Fisheries Fund Operational Programme for the seafood sector.

Announcing the grant awards, Minister Creed said:

Ireland’s 7 FLAGs are providing a wonderful source of investment for local seafood and marine projects in our coastal communities. Over 800 projects in seven coastal regions have benefitted from EMFF funding since the present FLAG scheme was launched in 2017.  The Scheme continues to positively impact on coastal communities in Ireland. The high number of successful projects funded this year reflects both the quality of the projects and the hard work of the local communities through the seven FLAG Boards.

Almost 400 applications were made to the 7 FLAGs this year. All applications were reviewed by individual FLAG Boards in each of the seven FLAG regions throughout Ireland.  The FLAG Boards are comprised of volunteers from the local communities.  Projects must be able to demonstrate a clear link to coastal community rejuvenation, enterprise, innovation, job creation and skills enhancement across the fishing, aquaculture and maritime industries.

Details of the FLAG scheme and how to apply can be found at www.bim.ie/schemes/

Notes for the Editor

The EMFF Operational Programme was launched in January 2016.  The Programme provides €240m in funding to the seafood sector (fisheries, aquaculture and seafood processing) over the period 2014 to 2020. The Programme is co-funded by the Exchequer and the EU.

FLAG, Fisheries Local Area Action Group (2014 – 2020) is a coastal community development strategy with a fund of €12 million for 7 designated Irish coastal communities. The 7 FLAGs are South FLAG (Cork), Southwest (Kerry, Limerick), South East (Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow) West, (Galway, Clare), Northwest (Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim), North (Donegal), and North East (Dublin, Louth, Meath).

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Seafood Development Agency, assists FLAGs to deliver this scheme through administering supports via grant-aid, training and on the ground facilitation, with dedicated regional FLAG coordinators in each region.

The grant awards were as follows: