European Funding
Ireland Wales 2014-2020 European Territorial Co-operation (ETC) Programme
Programme overview
What is the Ireland Wales Programme?
A cross-border programme investing in the overall economic, environmental and social well-being of Ireland and Wales. It is a maritime programme connecting organisations, businesses and communities on the West coast of Wales with the South-East coast of Ireland.
The Ireland Wales programme delivers sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits for people, businesses and communities across Ireland and Wales.
Approved projects in Pembrokeshire
Ancient Connections - Hidden Histories, Buried Stories, Connected Communities
Pembrokeshire County Council, together with partners Wexford County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and Visit Wexford worked collaboratively to deliver Ancient Connections, an exciting cross-border arts, heritage and sustainable tourism project funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales co-operation programme from 2019 to 2023.
Ancient Connections sought to revive and celebrate the ancient links between communities in North Pembrokeshire and Wexford. Research for the project looked at the links that exist between us, from the Paleolithic through to the Mediaeval era, and more recent history such as the first manned flight across the Irish Sea in 1912. Many of the stories uncovered reveal strong links between these two Celtic lands, for example the long term friendship between St David, patron saint of Wales, who spent much of his life in St Davids, and his pupil and protégé St Aidan who is closely associated with Ferns in Wexford.
The project’s aim was to motivate both communities to rediscover their shared heritage; to be mentors for one another; sharing knowledge, experience and skills and build new friendships to create a stronger sense of identity and place which will continue for years to come. For four years the project created a burst of creative activity in both regions including: the commissioning of new artworks, revival of traditional skills, promoting pilgrimage in the modern world, archaeological digs, storytelling and gathering, live music and schools projects, as well as mentoring and support for businesses and community projects.
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BUCANIER
The BUCANIER operation seeks to increase innovation capacity within SMEs and social enterprises by collaborating with Higher Education (HE) institutions and other public bodies to improve the innovation dividend through increased productivity across the Ireland Wales Programme area. BUCANIER will also invest in ideas for the design, development, testing and delivery of new products, processes and services by applying design based innovation that will bring new product/service ideas closer to the commercial market thereby contributing to the increase in cross-border productivity. BUCANIER intends to increase the number of cross-border collaborative research, development and innovation (RD&I) clusters and networks between research institutions and SMEs. The operation will work with renewable energy, food and drink and life science sectors across the Irish Sea Border.
