Launching its Annual Report for 2006 today, The International Fund for Ireland focussed attention on a £3.7 million ‘Sharing Education’ programme, which aims to bring together Northern Ireland’s Specialist schools in a way which promotes contact, mutual understanding and closer relationships with their communities, as well as academic excellence.The ‘Sharing Education’ Programme, which is being co-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, is part of the Fund’s strategic commitment to supporting initiatives that promote integration and practical opportunities for people living in Northern Ireland and the border counties to share the spaces where they live and work more effectively.The Programme, which will be officially launched in September 2007, will be delivered for the International Fund by Queen’s University Belfast. The University’s team will be responsible for developing appropriate training and support for teachers and parents as well as establishing a framework to facilitate ongoing collaboration between Northern Ireland’s 12 specialist schools and other schools, on cross sector, teacher, pupil and hopefully parental levels.Denis Rooney, Chairman of the International Fund believes that the ‘Sharing Education’ Programme has the potential to provide the education sector in Northern Ireland with the tools and framework to engage more effectively in promoting integration. He said: “We are initially looking at this Programme as a three year pilot, working first with specialist schools which have already been recognised as having achieved a very high standard in teaching in a range of curricular activities. ‘Sharing Education’ will build on these achievements, enabling existing expertise and experience to be shared with other schools in a way which brings together Northern Ireland’s two main communities for the benefits of everyone.“When we launched our new five year strategy last year, we committed the Fund to developing programmes that would address the unpalatable fact that Northern Ireland’s population lives in areas occupied largely by one side of the community and that most of our children attend schools segregated on the basis of religion. As our new annual report shows, ‘Sharing Education’ is just one example of how we are fulfilling that commitment.”The International Fund’s latest Annual Report shows that the Fund committed £17 million/EUR 24.6 million of funding during 2005/06, supporting projects such as:Re-Imaging Communities: the Fund has contributed £750,000 to this programme which brings together the Arts Council, Community Relations Council, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and the Department of Social Development to facilitate local communities to tackle the visible signs of sectarianism and racismLeaving a Legacy: in pursuit of the Fund’s aim of leaving a lasting legacy, over £6m has been committed to major projects at Corrymeela, Co Antrim; Skainos, East Belfast; Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, Wicklow and Greenhill YMCA, Co DownBuilding Foundations: the Fund has supported cross community initiatives in some of the interface areas in Belfast, Lisburn and Clady ; innovative cross border projects such as the Donegal/Strabane Heritage Environment Art Rural Tourism Project; community based economic and social regeneration projects such as the Tuath Donegal Community and Local Development Centre and the Communities in Transition programme which works with selected communities to build infrastructure as a means of promoting cohesion within and across communities.

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