Councillor Sam Nicholson from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council has been appointed ICBAN’s new Chairperson for 2022/23. Councillor Séamus Coyle of Monaghan County Council has been selected as Vice-Chair at the recent Annual General Meeting held in the Craigavon Civic Centre, County Armagh.

The new Chairperson, Councillor Nicholson has been a member of the Management Board since 2015. In his acceptance statement, he thanked his proposers, and said that it was a privilege to have been elected to the role of leading ICBAN in the next year. Remarking on the focus for the next year being delivering on some more of these regional priorities, Councillor Nicholson said, “I would hope for continued progress on the delivery of the ‘Framework for Regional Priorities’ strategy for the Central Border Region, through a range of project proposals being developed and submitted to funding streams such as the new PEACE Plus Programme.

The UK Regional funds, Levelling Up and Shared Prosperity, as well as Shared Island funds, are other funding options which can help us collectively improve everyday life across the Central Border Region. ICBAN can play an important role working with member Councils and other stakeholders to help realise these opportunities”.

On his nomination to the role of Vice-Chair, Councillor Séamus Coyle thanked the ICBAN Management Board and said he was looking forward to a year of positive progress, working with Councillor Nicholson and the Members from the eight local authorities of the Central Border Region.