The International Fund for Ireland has announced financial assistance of £4.6m (€5.5m) towards a wide range of initiatives which will promote cross-community and cross-border relations by increasing the level of contact, dialogue and reconciliation between Unionists and Nationalists in Ireland – North and South. 

The announcement was made following the Fund's recent Board meeting which took place in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.

Dr Denis Rooney CBE, Chairman of the Fund, said: "The recent street disturbances in East Belfast have highlighted that the peace process remains fragile and that within many communities there are those who are vulnerable to being exploited for violent ends, particularly in interface areas. The events in East Belfast also underlined the important role that community leaders play in defusing tensions.

“The work of improving community relations is a long-term task. The Fund is committed to breaking down traditional barriers in order to help build positive relations between the two main communities on the island of Ireland. We are working in some of our most marginalised communities to promote mutual understanding and respect so that we can meet our objective of establishing a peaceful society free from fear, isolation, mistrust and the threat of violence.

"The funding announced today will go towards a number of projects which will break new ground in our unstinting efforts to overcome the legacy of the Troubles and to establish cross-community cooperation and reconciliation as the norm in our society.” 

The International Fund for Ireland's funding includes:

• The Fund’s Community Based Economic and Social Regeneration Programme will provide £2.7m (€3.2m) to several projects to promote cross-community and cross-border contact in recognised areas of disadvantage and social isolation.  The projects will help to bring about lasting community development and positive change.  Among the beneficiaries will be Inishowen Women’s Information Network & Mid Ulster Women’s Network. Their project, Exploring New Directions, will receive £214,895 (€257,874) for a 2-year programme of activities aimed at encouraging women in rural communities to engage in civic activity in their community and to share this with women in other communities on a cross-border and cross-community basis.

• The Fund’s Community Bridges Programme will provide £1.5m (€1.8m) to six projects to continue community relations and reconciliation work. The Shankill Parish Caring Association in Lurgan will receive £286,286 (€343,543) to extend their successful Youth Reach Project to involve more young people in the town, to reach out to adults and to recruit and train local volunteers to help strengthen community cohesion across Lurgan.

• £309,800 (€371,760) allocated under the Fund’s Sharing in Education Programme towards the Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, Together Through Culture (TTC) Project. Reconciliation is a central theme of TTC and it is hoped that the project will help to break down barriers by creating links between school communities. TTC is aimed at primary and post-primary schools. 

Full Details of Funding Announcement - July 2011

Building Foundations

Community Based Economic and Social Regeneration Programme

All Saints Caring Association: Community Empowerment Project: £175, 500 (€210,600) towards a 2-year project engaging people from both communities in the Waterside area of Derry/Londonderry to develop positive community relations, volunteers, and community infrastructure. The project will also see the further development of the cross-border relationship with the Colgan community in Carndonagh County Donegal. 

Families Matter Sligo Strengthening Families Programme: £177,708 (€213,250) towards a 2-year family resilience and reconciliation programme targeting difficult to reach communities in the Sligo area. 

Leitrim Development Company Gillaroo Community Development Project: £88,116 (€105,740) towards the cross-border Gillaroo Project which will enhance the level of interaction, communication and reconciliation between the Nationalist and Unionist communities in Rossinver, Garrison, Kiltyclogher, Cashel and the surrounding rural areas. 

Ballybay Development Association: £103,416 (€124,100) towards a programme of training courses in Ballybay, County Monaghan that will bring together people from both sides of the local community. The courses and activities will have specific peace and reconciliation topics and outcomes and will be relevant to the current economic climate. 

Castleblaney Arts & Community Company Limited: £104,741 (€125,690) towards a 2-year cross-community reconciliation project, which will bring both sides of the local community together to focus on their commonalities.  The project will include facilitated peace building sessions, workshops on conflict management, cross-border visits and social enterprise training. 

South West Donegal Communities Partnership Limited: £232,750 (€279,300) towards a 2-year project aimed at addressing the legacy and impact of the conflict on older men in South West Donegal.  The project will address the issues of on-going fear, distrust and lack of understanding between men from both communities and will include intergenerational activity. 

Inishowen Women’s Information Network /Mid Ulster Women’s Network: Exploring New Directions, will receive £214,895 (€257,874) for a 2-year programme of activities aimed at encouraging women in rural communities to engage in civic activity in their community and to share this with women in other communities on a cross-border and cross-community basis. 

Carrick on Shannon Heritage Group: £141,741 (€170,090) towards a 2-year project entitled Twin Traditions which aims to advance trust and understanding between the two communities in County Leitrim and on a cross-border basis in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.

Monaghan Integrated Development Limited: £120,244 (€144,293) towards a 2-year project targeting older people from both sides of the community in the Monaghan area who have lived through and been impacted by the Troubles. The project will promote reconciliation through engagement, training, capacity building and cross-community events. 

Lifford/Clonleigh Resource Centre: £199,225 (€239,070) towards a 2-year project which will identify 10 cross-community and cross-border hubs in Inishowen, County Donegal and Limavady in County Derry/Londonderry to promote reconciliation by linking past and present through the exploration of local history using ICT. 

Inishowen Development Partnership Football4Peace Ireland Sustainability Programme: £137,500 (€165,000) towards a 2-year coaching programme designed and accredited by the University of Ulster.  The programme will cover Culture and Attitudes, Equality and Diversity, Conflict Identification and Resolution, Sports Leadership, Coaching Skills, Communication Skills, and the use of sport and physical activity as a tool for integration.

Community of Lough Arrow Social Project (CLASP): £183,333 (€220,000) towards a 2-year men’s project for the Lough Arrow area in County Sligo that will have cross-community membership and will tackle the legacy of the past through practical hands on projects. 

Muirhevnamor Community Council: £187,500 (€225,000) towards the Handshakes Project, an 18-month programme of peace and reconciliation and social activities for young people from Muirhevnamor, County Louth and young people from three Unionist communities in Northern Ireland. 

Building Bridges

Community Bridges Programme

Groundwork Northern Ireland and the Northside Partnership, Dublin: £326,548 (€391,857) towards the cost of a cross-border and cross-community reconciliation and regeneration project focused on North Belfast and North Dublin.

North Belfast Community Development & Transition Group: £230,318 (€276,381) to allow the group to continue to support and develop existing cross-community and conflict transformation work and to develop new initiatives.  The project will work with local residents, churches, young people, ex-terrorists, victims/survivors and politicians from the Tiger’s Bay, New Lodge, Newington, Parkside and Mountcollyer areas of North Belfast.  Key elements of the project include cross-community interface peace building; a cross-community shared space partnership project; leadership and volunteer development on a cross-community basis; and a cross-community youth development initiative.

Monkstown Community Association / Whiteabbey Community Group: £250,810 (€300,972) towards a wide-ranging and far reaching long-term community relations plan involving training for young people, leadership training for adults, a women’s peace programme, working on participation levels with men who are at present not engaged in their communities in positive ways, provide mediation, negotiation training and raising awareness of culture, history and living with difference.

Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum / Lower Oldpark Community Association: £260,000 (€312,000) towards a cross-community youth interface project in North Belfast. 

Shankill Parish Caring Association in Lurgan: £286,286 (€343,543) towards extending their successful Youth Reach Project to involve more young people in the town, to reach out to adults and to recruit and train local volunteers to help strengthen community cohesion across Lurgan. 

Youth Initiatives: £201,534 (€241,840) towards The Stepping Forward Project will enhance their work in Banbridge and Downpatrick and will use creative arts, music, drama, summer camps and volunteering events to target 1,400 young adults least likely to attend, and are suspicious of cross-community and reconciliation activity. 

Building Integration

Sharing in Education

Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, Together Through Culture (TTC) Project: £309,800 (€371,760). Reconciliation is a central theme of TTC and it is hoped that the project will help to break down barriers by creating links between school communities. TTC is aimed at primary and post-primary schools.   

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