EU funding: Rumours of its demise are greatly exaggerated

There is a common misconception that the era of EU funding opportunities for Ireland has now passed into history, an idea perhaps reinforced by the bloc’s expansion since 2004 to include 12 poorer members.

Ireland received billions of euros of EU investment since the 1980s through the Cohesion Fund and, in particular, the Structural Funds, making a hugely significant contribution to improving our social and physical infrastructure and enabling us to catch up impressively with our wealthier neighbours.

Of course, the success of these interventions has meant that the amounts have naturally diminished, but while the familiar blue and yellow stars on signage acknowledging such assistance for roads and water treatment facilities are less in evidence nowadays, that isn’t to say that the tap has been turned off.