To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, pursuant to AQW 38379/11-15, how many projects in the East Londonderry area are currently being considered for allocation of funding, which was awarded to her Department through the October monitoring round.

Building on DCAL’s significant investment in the North West to date, DCAL bid to the Executive in this financial year for additional funding to maximise ongoing development of a social and economic legacy from City of Culture 2013.

£3.8 million in both resource and capital funding was allocated to the Department in the October Monitoring Round to support a strategic development programme in the North West.

My priority is to address poverty and social exclusion and to deliver cultural led economic and social development in the North West. Whilst many of the projects which will receive funding are based in the Derry area, the additional funding will also strategically extend DCAL’s impact across the wider North West with a focus on enhancing capacity, building networks and embedding sustainability in Coleraine, Limavady, Strabane and their rural surrounds.

Two projects which have already received considerable funding in your constituency include the Stendhal Festival in Limavady and the North Coast Sports Village in Coleraine.

As business cases for other projects are still being finalised, I will be making further announcements in due course.