“Bringing communities together is key to long term peace”

International Fund for Ireland announces £5.9m/€7m to promote reconciliation and peace building

Following its recent Board meeting in County Armagh, the International Fund for Ireland has announced £5.9m/€7m to support a wide range of reconciliation and peace building projects.

Among the beneficiaries of this latest funding package are eight cross-community partnerships between grassroots community organisations across Northern Ireland and the southern border counties. The partnerships are all participating in the Fund’s ground-breaking Integrating Community Organisations Programme. In total, these eight partnerships will receive £719,791/€863,749.

The Integrating Community Organisations Programme was launched by the Fund in 2008 and has had considerable success in facilitating and supporting significant partnerships between community organisations representing Unionist and Nationalist traditions and from both sides of the border. The Programme’s ultimate aim is to encourage meaningful, lasting partnerships as a means of encouraging dialogue between communities and promoting reconciliation.

Speaking at the Board meeting, Fund Chairman Denis Rooney CBE said: “The Integrating Community Organisations Programme is at the very heart of the Fund’s work. It has provided a truly unique combination of support, training and funding to bring together a wide range of community groups to deliver genuinely shared projects and experiences for their wider communities.

“While we have made great progress towards peace, we still live in a largely segregated society – sometimes living very separate lives from our closest neighbours. The courage of organisations and communities who are attempting to build relationships with those from the other tradition should not be underestimated. Just a few years ago, it would have been almost unthinkable for some of these communities to work together. Their achievements should give us real hope for the next generation. It is only by bringing communities together in such practical ways that we can build lasting peace.”

In addition to funding for the Integrating Community Organisations Programme, other major elements of today’s funding announcement include:

£2.24m/€2.69m for three major projects supported through the Fund’s Sharing in Education Programme, including: a cross-border and cross-community project for primary schools in counties Fermanagh, Tyrone, Down, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth; a three-year cross-community and community relations project involving primary and post-primary schools and teacher training in counties Londonderry/Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal; and a cross-community project for post-primary schools in Greater Belfast.

£1.57m/€1.88m for four projects supported through the Fund’s Community Based Economic and Social Regeneration Programme, including: a major arts based cross-border and cross-community reconciliation project; a cross-community shared space project; and assistance in developing community relations activities.

£763,438/€916,126 for three projects supported through the Fund’s Community Bridges Programme. These include: a project to provide leadership training for 120 young people on both sides of the border; funding to further support local communities in counties Donegal, Antrim, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Monaghan, Londonderry/Derry and Tyrone to develop peace building plans; and an initiative to promote partnerships in interface areas in Belfast.

£215,871 to extend the ground-breaking Gerry Rogan Initiative Trust (GRIT) Programme. GRIT assists disadvantaged young people in Northern Ireland to address the issues and barriers they face. This new phase of the Programme will focus on challenging attitudes and behaviours that negatively impact on cross-community relations.

£358,795 to further support the regeneration of the Corrymeela Community site at Ballycastle, County Antrim.

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