The Government will this morning announce its long-awaited National Spatial Strategy, a blueprint for economic and social development within the State over the next 20 years.
The plan will identify a number of regional towns which will be earmarked for development alongside the existing regional cities of Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway.
All Government Departments and agencies with responsibility for issues such as transport, energy supplies and waste treatment will be immediately required to make their plans consistent with the national strategy.
Local authorities, particularly planning authorities, will have to ensure that their development plans conform to the strategy.
While the inclusion of the existing cities is already well known, it is believed that other towns such as Athlone, Dundalk, Sligo and Letterkenny will self-select as gateways, either because of current economic activity or for reasons of balancing economic development throughout the State.
But it is believed the total number of gateways throughout the State will be limited to nine, with a second tier of smaller growth hubs of about the same number.
These smaller growth hubs are believed to include Ballina-Castlebar, Ennis-Shannon, Tralee- Killarney, Mallow, Wexford, Tullamore-Mullingar and Monaghan.
The designation of these towns would create a network through which growth could be dispersed from nearby gateways to the surrounding regions.
Clusters such as Athlone, Mullingar and Tullamore carry a critical mass of population which planners believe could attract industrial development as well as enjoying good education and leisure facilities, and having the potential to become self-sustaining in terms of housing and transport services.
In terms of regional development the strategy is designed to spread economic activity to the less advantaged Border, Midlands and Western Region.
The selection of gateways and hubs in this region is likely to impact heavily on the future development of transport links serving towns such as Sligo and Letterkenny.
The strategy contains a strong cross-Border element reflecting the involvement of personnel from Northern Ireland's similar development strategy, Shaping Our Future, which was completed earlier this year.
The identification of Monaghan as a smaller growth centre would encourage cross-Border activity in Cos Armagh and Fermanagh, while it is thought Letterkenny-Derry is a traditional geographical axis pre-dating partition.
Similarly the development of Dundalk as a gateway provides a cross-Border trade incentive, bringing in towns such as Newry and others farther along the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor.
The Government is hopeful the effect of the strategy will be to open up an economic corridor through Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo and Letterkenny. Other possibilities include development of the Sligo-Dundalk axis.
