11/11/2025
NIFRS Secures Over €2m PEACEPLUS Funding For Cross-Border Emergency Training
The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS), in partnership with the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM), South West College (SWC), and Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education & Training Board (MSLETB), has secured over €2 million from the PEACEPLUS Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
The investment will fund the TACTICS Project (Training Across Communities for Tactical Interoperability for Cross-Border Safety), which aims to significantly enhance cross-border cooperation, mutual aid, and interoperability between the fire and rescue services in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with a particular focus on border areas.
The project will bring together Firefighters and emergency personnel from both jurisdictions for shared training, joint exercises, and specialist development programmes.
The NIFRS Learning & Development College in Cookstown will serve as the central training hub, providing facilities for: Urban Search and Rescue (USAR); High Volume Pumping (HVP); Multi-agency training and large-scale simulation exercises.
NIFRS Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Aidan Jennings emphasised the need for this investment: "Tragic incidents such as Cresslough, property fires, road traffic collisions and the range of other emergencies fire and rescue services respond to in border areas – together with the rising frequency of severe weather and wildfires, reinforce the need for a strategic approach and investment to joint agency interoperability."
Keith Leonard, Director of the NDFEM, highlighted the operational benefits, stating that the project will mean both fire services will operate the same processes and procedures for complex operations like Urban Search and Rescue, increasing speed and efficiency.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD both welcomed the initiative, underscoring its role in protecting shared communities and ensuring firefighter and public safety remains at the heart of planning and response mechanisms across the island of Ireland for the next three years.
The investment will fund the TACTICS Project (Training Across Communities for Tactical Interoperability for Cross-Border Safety), which aims to significantly enhance cross-border cooperation, mutual aid, and interoperability between the fire and rescue services in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with a particular focus on border areas.
The project will bring together Firefighters and emergency personnel from both jurisdictions for shared training, joint exercises, and specialist development programmes.
NIFRS Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Aidan Jennings emphasised the need for this investment: "Tragic incidents such as Cresslough, property fires, road traffic collisions and the range of other emergencies fire and rescue services respond to in border areas – together with the rising frequency of severe weather and wildfires, reinforce the need for a strategic approach and investment to joint agency interoperability."
Keith Leonard, Director of the NDFEM, highlighted the operational benefits, stating that the project will mean both fire services will operate the same processes and procedures for complex operations like Urban Search and Rescue, increasing speed and efficiency.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD both welcomed the initiative, underscoring its role in protecting shared communities and ensuring firefighter and public safety remains at the heart of planning and response mechanisms across the island of Ireland for the next three years.
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.