The Co Tyrone town of Dungannon was added to the list of the most disadvantaged and deprived areas of Northern Ireland today.
Northern Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) said it had updated its disadvantaged area maps which now include Dungannon but has excluded Moyle, Co Antrim.
DETI said it would continue to target 30 per cent of the Northern Ireland population by designating the six most deprived council areas together with the most disadvantaged parts of Belfast.
They would be the focus for activities aimed at tackling poverty and social need, said the department.
The designated areas, according to new data from the Noble Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure, are Newry & Mourne, Strabane, Derry, Omagh, Cookstown and Dungannon.
Enterprise Minister Maria Eagle said: "The updated maps represent a fair and objective approach to defining deprivation and will enable DETI and its agencies to effectively target resources."
The minister stressed, however, that while those areas designated as disadvantaged would be afforded priority status, her department would continue to seek to improve jobs and income opportunities throughout Northern Ireland.
It would also provide an appropriate response to the needs of individual areas. DETI has previously given "special status" to a small number of areas which fall outside the map areas but which experienced high levels of unemployment.
But in view of falling unemployment - below the national average and second lowest in the UK regions - the special status was no longer appropriate and has been removed, said the department.
It was previously afforded to Larne, Carrickfergus, Fermanagh and Limavady.
PA