The MP for Foyle, Elisha McCallion, has issued an appeal to the Dublin government to contribute towards the financing of Derry's stalled medical school.
Writing in today's Derry News the Sinn Fein representative says she is hopeful that progress can be made on the issue.
Ms McCallion writes: "We have been engaging with the Irish Government on the development of an Inclusive Growth Deal for Derry City and the wider North West region which is something I have been taking forward as a priority since I became the MP.
"Coordinated with the Derry City and Strabane District Council's Strategic Growth Plan, this initiative would strengthen our infrastructure, create employment, and help address deprivation.
"We are seeking funding for this Inclusive Growth Deal as part of the British Government’s ‘City Deals’ programme. The Council and Executive departments have already committed to this plan and now we need government buy-in.
"But given that the economies on both sides of the border are interlinked and interdependent, the Irish government should also contribute."
Ms McCallion says that she has been having 'specific discussions at a very senior level' about Dublin helping fund the planned medical school at Magee - and that she is hopeful of progress.
"It is clear to me that the Irish Government is very seized of the importance of this project to the wider economic regeneration of the North West and the expansion of Magee University," she says. "So again, I am hopeful that we will see progress on that in the near future.
"The National Planning Framework which was recently announced by the Irish Government is the ideal vehicle to channel funding to priority projects in the North West. There were welcome commitments in the National Planning Framework (NPF) especially in terms of regional development, the North West and the All-Ireland dimension but Sinn Féin believes it can go further and, of course, we must ensure that commitments become solid actions.
"We also want to see the North treated as an integral part of the NPF but, even given those concerns, it still provides the ideal vehicle to resource leading strategic projects in the North West. The medical school is clearly one of those but we are also exploring how the Irish Government can support the other key strategic projects in the North West."
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