Internationally,the marine leisure market is one of the fastest growing markets,while the Irish Sea market has competed relatively poorly with other areas such as the English Channel,Scotland and the Mediterranean.This being the case,the INTERREG project is seen as the first phase of a major joint initiative to develop the Irish Sea into a leading European marine leisure market underpinned by collaboration in joint marketing,joint product development and joint training to achieve a rapidly developing infrustructure of facilities,services,skills and in- novative businesses on both sides of the Irish Sea. INTERREG Ⅲ being an EU-funded programme that helps Europe's regions form partnerships to work together on common projects,enabling them to share knowledge and experience that will help them develop new solutions to economic,social and environmental challenges.The project has four main areas of operation:development of a marine industry strategy;business development;market-ing and promotion;and capability building and skills enhancement.INTERREG project offers Irish Sea an opportunity to development in a cohesive and planned way.