Secretary of State announces £15m flood relief funding at Newry meeting

Up to £15m in funding has been promised by Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris towards flood relief in Northern Ireland. The sum was announced at a meeting with business representatives in the Canal Court, Newry. The funding isn't 'new' money but re-allocated from existing NI funds.

The meeting followed the Newry BID AGM and speaking on the announcement Eamonn Connolly, Newry BID Manager said "This is a good start and we welcome this announcement. We thank the Secretary of State for coming to Newry to tell us this in person. We have been lobbying hard with other stakeholders in recent days for immediate support. This is a positive investment. It will help towards giving our members the confidence and funding required to deliver short term fixes to hopefully get them back to trading.

"We are not clear yet how this will be administered but we call for this to be quickly and easily available for those worst impacted.
"We will continue to lobby for long term support and for work on a root cause analysis to help prevent this devastation from happening again."

Northern Ireland Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said “The floods have been devastating for all those who have suffered the destruction of their homes and businesses. I have previously seen myself all the hard work that has gone into the areas affected to build facilities, invest and grow businesses and improve the local area."

“I can only imagine how people must be feeling to see the destruction these floods have brought to areas they’ve invested so much in. Those who have suffered damage need reassurance that support will be available. This is rightly something  which a devolved Executive should be able to deliver. 

“However, in the absence of the Executive which could have acted swiftly, the UK Government will make available up to £15m of support through the reallocation of existing NI funding. This will help with clean-up costs and support businesses to resume trading. 

“We will continue to work closely with the NI Civil Service and local councils to ensure that support gets to those who need it as quickly as possible.”

Speaking after the funding was announced Newry and Armagh MLA Conor Murphy said the funding is not enough to assist with damage from last week’s extreme flooding and more must be done to help businesses and families.

Mr Murphy said “Much more must be done to help businesses and families repair the huge damage to their homes and premises. There is little to no detail on how it will be distributed so workers, families and businesses so we also need urgent clarity.  

“Unfortunately, the British Government has brought forward no new money and todays announcement simply won’t cover the financial cost homeowners and businesses are facing.

“The British Government needs to fund a scheme that adequately assists those impacted to repair homes, businesses and protect jobs.

“That is the clear message that Chris-Heaton Harris heard today.”