Work is progressing on plans to establish a £1 billion Belfast Region City Deal.

At its monthly meeting on Monday, Belfast City Council agreed further work plans with its five local authority partners Antrim and Newtownabbey, Ards and North Down, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid and East Antrim and Newry, Mourne and Down.

The city council said it is also supporting a deal for Derry/L'Derry and wants to see money invested in visitor attractions, regeneration, public transport, infrastructure, digital connectivity, research and innovation centres and skills development.

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Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Deirdre Hargey, said: "The central goal of the Belfast Region City Deal is to deliver more and better jobs; accessible to people from all communities. We're working in close collaboration with our five local authority partners Antrim and Newtownabbey, Ards and North Down, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid and East Antrim and Newry, Mourne and Down, the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Treasury to agree our priority projects over the summer months.

"And we've engaged with politicians, business leaders, universities and colleges to complete a robust analysis of our competitive strengths, economic challenges and our most pressing needs to shape the four pillars of our ambitious proposition: Employability and Skills, Innovation/Digital, Infrastructure and Tourism.

"We'll be calling on our wider partners over the coming weeks to show their support for our plans, to ensure that we all secure the strongest possible deal for the Belfast City Region."

(LM)