THERE have been calls for Invest NI to “do better” with regard the support it provides for Fermanagh, with the latest figures once again showing the local area received its lowest level of support last year.
The figures, released on Monday this week, show county received less than one percent of the jobs it created across the North from Invest NI last year and slightly over two percent of its investment.
In total, the Fermanagh and Omagh area with £1.56 million in assistance the lowest figure for any Council area of the North, and £8.15 million in investment, the second lowest level in the North.
A total of 34 jobs were created by Invest NI support in the Fermanagh and Omagh area, once again the lowest number in the North.
Even compared to our nearest Council neighbours the figures are remarkably low, with Mid Ulster receiving £5.95 million in assistance and £25.18 in investment, and seeing 133 jobs created.
Unsurprisingly, Belfast received the highest levels of support, with £28.59 million in assistance, £190.74 million in investment, and 1,301 new jobs created.
Cllr Adam Gannon, SDLP group leader on the Council, met with Invest NI after the figures were released this week, telling officials it was “wrong that we are getting the crumbs off the table.”
“It is outrageous,” he said. “We are not getting anywhere like our fair share of Invest NI investment or jobs.”
Calling for a less Belfast-centric approach with more regional emphasis from the agency, Cllr Gannon added, “Invest NI should not just be about creating jobs in Belfast. It should be about creating jobs everywhere, including here across Fermanagh and Omagh. They must do better.”
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