Grow South Antrim

GROW South Antrim Makes Another First

Following on from the success of being the first group to issue Letters of Offer to applicants under the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme, GROW South Antrim has now approved a payment to a successful project - the first Programme money to hit the ground. This first grant payment of £46,589 was made to Randalstown-based plastic reprocessing company, Emerald Isle Reprocessing Ltd, which was awarded the funding to purchase a robotic feeder for their recycling line. This new machine will increase the capacity of the business by automating the reprocessing line, which can now run for twice as long, improving productivity and efficiency.  The funding will enable Emerald Isle Reprocessing to expand the services they offer, creating employment opportunities within the rural area.

Roy Livingston, Director of Emerald Isle Reprocessing Ltd, highlighted how important the grant was to his business, "The funding from GROW South Antrim will allow my business to expand to meet increasing customer demand.  Without the funding it would have been difficult to invest in such a large piece of machinery, but the grant came at the right time for me to develop the reprocessing side of the business and the business is looking towards a bright future."

The Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 is part financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). Malcolm Beatty, Director of Rural Payments and Inspection Division of DARD visited the project to congratulate both GROW and Roy on their progress and to issue the payment.

GROW has now awarded total funding of £1,040,665 to applicants from rural areas across the Boroughs of Antrim, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey.

Cllr Vera McWillliam, Chair of the GROW Local Action Group, commented: "GROW is proud to be the first group in Northern Ireland to actually get money on the ground from the Rural Development Programme. We look forward to processing many more payments as the Programme progresses and seeing the benefits of the many great projects we have approved so far throughout the rural community." 

Vera continued, "We will be reopening for applications next year and would welcome many more applicants from across the rural South Antrim area to get in touch or check our website for future application calls."

Malcolm Beatty, DARD Director of Rural Payment & Inspections Division, Cllr Janet Crilly, Chair of GROW Joint Council Committee, Roy Livingston, Managing Director of Emerald Isle Reprocessing, Cllr Vera McWilliam, Chair of GROW Local Action Group, John Thompson, Ulster Farmer's Union and David McCammick, Chief Executive of Antrim Borough Council.

Date Posted: 05 Jan 2010