Shared Island newsletter

Shared Island Initiative Newsletter

This newsletter provides subscribers with updates on the Government's Shared Island initiative to enhance cross-border cooperation and connections on the island and engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

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On 10th April 2025, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD delivered the keynote address at the 4th Shared Island Forum, announcing a new phase of the Government’s Shared Island Initiative further to the Programme for Government which sets out an ambitious agenda for continuing to build our shared island, backed by a further €1 billion investment in the Shared Island Fund out to 2035.

The Taoiseach also announced a new dimension to the Initiative to commence later this year - the ‘Shared Home Place’ programme. This will be open to people from every corner of the island to build new connections around our place-based heritage, and will engage with the contributions of Irish, Anglo-Irish and Ulster-Scots traditions, as well as Irish communities in Britain and beyond.

The 4th Shared Island Forum was moderated by broadcaster and writer Lynette Fay and attended by over 250 political, civil society, business, community and cultural representatives from across the island of Ireland.

For more information on the Shared Island Forum, click here.

Shared Island Initiative report 2024 - Action on a Shared Future

Coinciding with the Forum event, a report ‘Shared Island Initiative Report 2024 - Action on a Shared Future’ was published on 10 April by the Department of the Taoiseach which sets out how the Initiative has been taken forward over the last year on a whole of Government basis implementing the commitment to engage with all communities and traditions to build a shared future on the island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

The full report can be viewed here.

The Programme for Government 2025 commits a further €1 billion to the Shared Island Fund up to 2035 to foster reconciliation, mutual respect and growth and sets out a range of new all-island investment and cooperation commitments.

On 25 February 2025, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD and Tánaiste Simon Harris TD announced over €50 million in allocations by Government from the Fund for a series of new Shared Island projects on Tourism, Arts & Culture, Nature Restoration and Civic Society, to be delivered over the next five years

1. Shared Island Civic Society Fund

On 22 May, The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris, announced the opening of the 2025 round of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Shared Island Civic Society Fund.

The new phase of the Shared Island Civic Society Fund is a €6 million three-year initiative, promoting practical North-South cooperation and engagement, primarily between grassroots community organisations across a range of sectors and themes, consistent with the objectives and commitments of the Good Friday Agreement.

The 2025 round will allocate up to €2 million, and applications will be accepted from Monday, 26 May 2025, to Friday, 27 June. Applications for projects promoting North/ South cooperation across a range of sectors are welcome.

For more information on how to apply: Shared Island Civic Society Fund

The Civic Society Fund will be €6m over 2025-2027, with a €4m contribution from the Shared Island Fund and €2m from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

2. Arts and Cultural Heritage

The Government’s February 2025 announcement included a Shared Island Fund allocation of up to €20 million to support the development and delivery of a series of new Arts and Cultural Heritage projects, to deepen cultural cooperation, exchange and understanding.

New projects are to be prepared and brought forward, supporting new collaborative cross-border performance, production, and cultural exhibitions, including through:

• enhanced cooperation between the National Cultural Institutions and partners;
• Touring and productions across the island of Ireland and internationally;
• Screen sector and cultural asset digitisation cooperation;
• Irish language and Ulster Scots language, culture and heritage.

Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, on 10 March announced plans for the Shared Island Cultural Cooperation Fund, which will be further developed by Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in cooperation with the Northern Ireland Executive and UK Government counterparts.

3. Tourism Shared Destinations

The Government’s February 2025 announcement included up to €23 million for development of a number of sustainable tourism amenities across the border region.

These projects will be progressed by Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland in partnership with local authorities and in cooperation with relevant Departments and Agencies, North and South.

The Shared Destinations programme will contribute to all-island cooperation on Tourism through the North South Ministerial Council and build on the success of the Wild Atlantic Way and Causeway Coastal Route brand alignment project delivered by Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland supported through the Shared Island Fund.

- Carlingford Lough: Delivering a network of trailheads, trails and water access points across the region, and increasing connectivity between tourism assets, complemented by delivery of a Destination Experience Strategy to promote the region. The investment will harness the benefits of the Narrow Water Bridge as a lynchpin for sustainable tourism and recreation activity around the Carlingford Lough area.

- Cuilcagh Lakelands UNESCO Global Geopark: Developing the trail network to link existing trails North and South of the border; enhancing and further linking the regional tourism offering at Cuilcagh and the wider cross-border UNESCO Global Geopark. Trail development will provide connectivity between the Marble Arch Caves, Cuilcagh Boardwalk and on to Cavan Burren Park and include interpretation, wayfinding and infrastructure, including a community-based interpretative centre at Glangevlin village.

- Sliabh Beagh: Developing extensive connected walking, cycling, equestrian cross-border trails around Sliabh Beagh Mountain along the border, with the inclusion of trailheads and gateways. Trail development will also include interpretation, wayfinding and other facility development.

- International Marketing and Development Programme: Tourism Ireland will progress a marketing campaign for each Shared Destination, including an industry development programme. This programme will be developed and delivered by 2030, to maximise the economic impact for each region.

4. Nature restoration and biodiversity

The Government’s February 2025 announcement included an allocation of up to €10 million to enable the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), working with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), to develop and take forward a new island-wide nature restoration and biodiversity programme. Building on the successful Natura Communities project, delivered in the North West by the NPWS with community and regional partners, the expanded programme will work with local authorities and communities to:

• deliver and foster community-led action on nature restoration of wetlands and other ecosystems including coastal habitats;
• build capacity for long-term wetland management;
• support locally-based training and employment opportunities in nature restoration; and,
• enable community participation, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing.

The programme will also include development of ‘lighthouse’ sites North and South to develop and demonstrate multi-dimensional wetland restoration that delivers social and environmental returns.

The nature restoration programme will build on the Shared Island biodiversity actions on peatland restoration (2023-28) and biosecurity (2023-27) which are being successfully taking forward by the NPWS, working with partners in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The Shared Island Unit is progressing a comprehensive research programme to provide high quality, evidence-based analysis on a North–South basis to inform development of the Shared Island Initiative and wider discussions on a shared future underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

1. Department of the Taoiseach – ESRI Research Conference

On 28 April 2025, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD gave the keynote address at the Research on a Shared Island conference, marking four years of the joint research programme between the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Department of the Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit.

The Taoiseach also announced a new phase of the joint research programme as part of the Shared Island Initiative, with a focus on strategic policy and cooperation considerations for both jurisdictions on the island.

Sharing the Island: Economic and Social Challenges and Opportunities: Evidence from an ESRI Research Programme
The ESRI’s overarching report synthesises key findings from the 15 previous reports under the programme, bringing out interlinkages and highlighting and reflecting on implications for policy learning for the island in the future. The full report is available here.

Economic Overview of Ireland and Northern Ireland
On 15 April 2025, the ESRI published a high-level comparison of the economies of Ireland and Northern Ireland in recent years, covering a broad range of dimensions including demographics and labour market trends, living standards, economic structures, education, health, and overall wellbeing.

The research recognises that the economies North and South on the island are distinct in important structural respects, and therefore direct comparisons between the two will not always be on a like-for-like basis. The research provides a range of important insights on the relative performance of both economies over recent years and allows for differences to be better understood. You can read the full report here.

Child Poverty on the island of Ireland
On 16 January 2025, the ESRI published research comparing child poverty in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The report found that throughout 2004-2023, child income poverty levels were somewhat higher in Northern Ireland, while child material deprivation rates were higher in Ireland for most of the period examined (2010-2023), and at a comparable level in 2023.

The contrasting comparison for child income poverty and child material deprivation levels suggests that families on low incomes in Ireland have been less able to convert household income into an adequate standard of living compared with families at the same position in the income distribution in Northern Ireland, possibly due to a higher cost of living in Ireland.

The final research is available here and the launch webinar can be viewed here.

1. Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF)

On 12 April 2025, a meeting of the Labour Employer Economic Forum chaired by Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD was briefed on the potential to strengthen the all-island labour market for the benefit of employers and workers on the entire island, and it was agreed that LEEF would put a sustained focus on this important agenda.

In November 2024, a study commissioned by the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) Shared Island Working Group was published by the Centre for Cross Border Studies, examining the conditions, challenges and opportunities for the all-island labour market.

The study aims to provide an evidence base that will inform and contribute to public and political discussion on addressing challenges and enhancing opportunities for workers, businesses and the wider economy while aligning with the objective of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance cooperation, connection, and mutual understanding on the island.

1. Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS)

Educating about Difference Uniting Classrooms and Teacher Education (EDUCATE)
In October 2024, the fifth project commissioned under the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS) - Shared Island research partnership published its final report.

‘Educating about Difference Uniting Classrooms and Teacher Education’ (EDUCATE) examined Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students’ understandings of inclusion, education about difference, and familiarity with methodologies and approaches for teaching controversial issues.

The project significantly extended and built upon existing partnerships between Mary Immaculate College and Queen’s University Belfast. The data shows there is an openness to all-island engagement and a curiosity among ITE students, and teachers in Equality-based, Multidenominational and Integrated (EMI) schools, about how each other’s educational system works and how controversial topics are explored in both jurisdictions.

You can learn more about the project and read the final report here.

If you missed our last Newsletter, it can be read here.

Thank you from the Shared Island Unit team