The LEADER+ Programme is one of the European Union's Community Initiatives that has been created to support rural development across Europe. It is the third phase of the LEADER Initiative and it will run from 2001-2006. The previous two LEADER Initiatives, known as LEADER I and LEADER II, ran from 1991 to 1993 and from 1994 to 1999 respectively and delivered a funding package worth over £17 Million to develop the rural economy of Northern Ireland. There are four separate LEADER+ Programmes being run in the UK at present in the regions of Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

The Northern Ireland LEADER+ Programme was approved by the European Commission on 21 September 2001 with an allocation of around £10 Million. This is supplemented by a further £10 Million from National Government, bringing the total value of the Programme to around £20 Million.

The objective of the Northern Ireland LEADER+ Programme is:
"To increase the economic and employment contribution that very small businesses, including small farms, make to the rural economy by encouraging local partnerships to test out new approaches to micro-business development and, where beneficial, to work in collaboration with similar partnerships in other rural areas."

The Northern Ireland LEADER+ Programme will have funding allocated to three main areas of activity or Actions as follows:

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is managing the LEADER+ Programme centrally through its Rural Development Strategy and this is being delivered by locally based partnerships known as Local Action Groups. There are twelve Local Action Groups delivering the LEADER+ Programme in Northern Ireland. The Rural Down Partnership is the Local Action Group with responsibility for delivering the LEADER+ Programme in the rural parts of Ards, Banbridge and Down Council areas. Approximately £1.45 Million was awarded under Action 1 of the LEADER+ Programme to support the development of micro businesses across the tri-Council area up until December 2006.

It is anticipated that the LEADER+ Programme will be as successful as the previous two LEADER Initiatives, which between them made an important contribution to the economic and social development of Northern Ireland's rural areas. LEADER I supported 15 community led regeneration projects and created 61 full-time, 51 part-time and 41 casual or seasonal jobs. LEADER II has supported over 2000 projects (781 of these involved grants of less than £1,000) and created over 200 new businesses. Around 12% of all projects were farm diversification projects. A total of 534 full-time equivalent jobs were created and 529 existing jobs were sustained by the Programme.