The total impact of the Programme will not be known until the end of the Programme, as many of the projects supported are still in the early stages of implementation and the outputs are emerging.

However, during preparation of the independent mid-term evaluation of the Programme the following achievements have been measured as at February 2006:

• 1,820 approved applications for rural development projects by December 2005;
• Strong financial performance through a commitment of £65 million (80% of the allocation) and expenditure of £35.5m (44% of allocation) by December 2005;
• Strong uptake levels in some of the most western and peripheral rural areas of Northern Ireland, which are relatively less prosperous compared to rural areas around the Belfast Metropolitan Area and the Southern and Eastern Shores of Lough Neagh;
• Creation of 631 jobs, as ‘downstream or spin-off’ impacts of RDP 2000-2006 funding and in addition a further 130 ‘funded posts’ within the RDP delivery infrastructure and at project level;
• Training/capacity building of over 5,000 individuals in rural areas of Northern Ireland;
• Support for 149 environmental projects;
• Balanced distribution of RDP 2000-2006 approved projects within wards categorised by religion/community background, potentially suggesting that there has been no differential impact within one community over another