The International Fund for Ireland has pledged a further £2,140,889/€2,419,201 to twenty-one projects across Northern Ireland and the southern border counties for peace and reconciliation work.

This funding is designed to provide significant support for marginalised communities who continue to live with the ongoing legacy of The Troubles.

Financial support has been awarded across three core IFI Programmes including Peace Impact Programme (PIP), Personal Youth Development Programme (PYDP) and Communities in Partnership Programme (CiPP).

The funding includes a combination of extensions to existing projects aimed at continuing community outreach while other projects are being funded for the first time after identifying a clear need for targeted support in some areas.

Paddy Harte, IFI Chair welcomed the latest funding package,

“The IFI has been instrumental in supporting peace and reconciliation efforts for 40 years - giving communities the right support and tools to thrive is at the heart of what we do.

“Whilst much progress has been made on our peacebuilding journey, our projects and communities navigate challenging circumstances daily.  We can see that tensions remain high around increased paramilitary activity and recruitment of young people, sectarianism, criminal activity, anti-social behaviour, culture, and identity. Marginalised communities are also suffering greatly from socio-economic issues such as low educational attainment, intergenerational trauma, poor mental health, lack of investment and employment opportunities.

“The IFI is one of the few organisations who are prepared to take risks and engage with people in deprived areas who are most in need. We are committed to ensuring that our support is offering communities hope and resolution to tackle the remaining challenges around peacebuilding.”

Four projects, including two new initiatives, have been awarded £525,173/ €593,444 through the Peace Impact Programme (PIP). They will work to deliver sensitive interventions in communities that have not previously, or have only partially, participated in peacebuilding and reconciliation activities. Thanks to PIP support, over 46,000 people were involved in capacity building, events and training in the last year.

The Personal Youth Development Programme (PYDP) has received £1,035,115/ €1,169,678, which will be distributed to 12 projects. The PYDP works with the most at-risk young people to improve confidence and personal resilience, helping them develop a better understanding of culture and identity, and increase practical skills for future employment. Over 150 participants have gained employment and achieved over 1000 accreditations with PYDP projects in their area.

Finally, six projects have been allocated £580,601/ €656,079 through the Communities in Partnership Programme (CiPP). The Programme encourages and supports innovation, helping empower communities to build stronger, meaningful cross-border partnerships. Over the last year, 25 projects have been supported through CiPP with 153 new cross-border partnerships established to benefit residents.

The projects awarded funding at the IFI’s recent Meeting in Belfast will deliver for and engage with communities across Antrim, Armagh, Derry/ Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Tyrone.

The IFI was set up by the British and Irish Governments as an independent international organisation in 1986 and is supported by international donors – British and Irish Governments, government of the United States of America, European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The organisation delivers a range of peace and reconciliation initiatives across Northern Ireland and the southern border counties, currently supporting a total of 65 projects in Northern Ireland and 28 in the southern border counties. 

Funding breakdown is as follows 

Full Funding allocation:

Peace Impact Programme (PIP)

County Antrim

£134,065/€151,493 to Dalaradia Cultural Historical Association in Newtownabbey for 12-months so it can continue to deliver work around four key themes: Women in Peace; Inter-Loyalist Relationships; Addressing Paramilitarism and Coercive Control; and Positive Cultural Identity Celebration. There will also be a continued focus of integrating women into the core group as this is considered an important outcome for the project – and the communities – in which it currently operates.

Belfast

£123,526/€139,584 to Active Communities Network for a 12-month project that will focus on North and West Belfast, specifically the Lower Falls Road, Divis, Greater Shankill area and Oldpark and engage with those from the Catholic, Nationalist, Republican and Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist communities. The key elements comprise ‘Increased Empowerment/Leadership Development’; ‘Positive Community Role Models’; ‘Raising Awareness on Key Issues affecting Women and Girls’; and ‘Mediation Skills’.

County Derry-Londonderry

£159,618/€180,368 to Evolve Northern Ireland (formerly Sperrin Cultural Awareness Association) for a one-year project to work with PUL communities in Randalstown, Magherafelt and Garvagh, the A29 area including the Four Towns area, and Greater Ballymena. The work will focus on community engagement and peacebuilding; community upskilling; and targeting marginalised groups as well as rural communities, women, young people, former combatants, and prisoners.

County Donegal

£107,964/€122,000 to Letterkenny Community Development Project for the 18-month ‘Impact Project’ that will target and work with both individuals and groups, from three disadvantaged areas across eight residential estates, that are not currently engaged in community development or peacebuilding. It will also work with disaffected communities, at risk young people, former political prisoners, Republicans, and socially isolated women and men.

Personal Youth Development Programme (PYDP)

Belfast

£146,349/€165,374 to Catalyst for a one-year ‘STRYVE’ (Inclusive Innovation Skills) project that will work with 96 at risk young people (39 from the Catholic, Nationalist, Republican community, 39 from the Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist community, and eighteen ‘Others’) from across Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Newry, Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon, Enniskillen, Dungannon and Antrim.

£95,762/€108,211 to Springboard Opportunities Ltd for the twelve-month ‘Directions’ project covering West Belfast, East Belfast, and North Belfast. It will recruit fifteen at risk young people who are impacted by deprivation, social exclusion, low self-worth, or present high emotional and social needs meaning they are at risk of manipulation of crime and civic disturbances.

County Armagh

£77,452/€87,521 to Edgarstown Residents’ Association in Portadown to support the 12-month ‘Evolve Project’ that will engage with up to fifteen young people from a number of housing estates in Portadown, including Edgarstown, Corcrain, Rectory, Redmanville, Brownstown and Killicomaine who are not in education, training, or employment; are vulnerable to paramilitary recruitment; are known to the criminal justice system; or have left education with no or low educational attainments.

County Donegal

£87,450/€98,818 to Donegal Youth Services for 12-months for ‘The U.P Project’ (Unlocking My Potential) which will recruit thirty at risk young people who are living in the Letterkenny and East Donegal areas and are not in employment, education, or training. Participants will come from the Catholic, Nationalist, Republican community, Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist community, and ‘Other’ sections of the local community.

County Derry-Londonderry

£102,948/€116,331 to Causeway and Rural Urban Network (CRUN) to help deliver the 12-month ‘BRAKE’ (Building Resilience and Knowledge in Education) project in the Central, Churchlands, Cross Glebe, Waterside and Ballysally wards of Coleraine town. The project will recruit up to fifteen at risk young people who are not currently engaged in education, training, or employment, and who are vulnerable to polarisation/recruitment to organisations opposed to the Peace Process.

£87,525/€98,903 to HURT (Have Your Tomorrow) for the 12-month ‘RISE - Reach, Inspire, Succeed and Empower’ project that will target fifteen young people from the Moor and Waterside electoral wards in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area who are misusing substances; are likely to be known to the criminal justice system; and not in employment, education, or training.

£97,602/€110,290 to St Columb’s Park Reconciliation Trust for the 12-month ‘IgnYte’ project that will work with up to seventeen vulnerable young people who are not currently in employment, education, or training; face multiple barriers to engagement; and are at risk of being or are involved in paramilitary activities from the city centre area of Derry-Londonderry and the Waterside area.

County Fermanagh

£82,796/€93,559 to Fermanagh Sports and Cultural Awareness Association for the 12-month ‘Fermanagh Positive Youth Outlooks’ project. It will recruit fifteen at risk young people from the Ballinamallard, Irvinestown, Maguiresbridge, Kesh, Tempo and Brookeborough areas who are furthest away from employment, education, and training, and who have had little or no engagement with people from the other side of the religious divide.

County Leitrim

£66,845/€75,535 to North Connaught Youth Services for the 12-month ‘Ballinamore Youth Action Project’ (BYAP) that will work with twelve young people living in those areas of Leitrim – and the border area west of Cavan – where high dissident activity and influences have been identified as well as high juvenile crime rates, high levels of social deprivation and emerging homelessness, and a lack of infrastructure in relation to youth support.

County Tyrone

£102,485/€115,808 to Galbally Youth and Community Association for the 12-month ‘Gamechanger’ project that will aim to recruit fifteen at risk young people who are hard to reach, marginalised or not in employment from South and East Tyrone, including Galbally, Cappagh and the surrounding villages and towns (Ballygawley, Aughnacloy, Carrickmore, Castlecaufield, Donaghmore, Pomeroy, Coalisland and Dungannon).

Strabane, County Tyrone

£87,901/€99,328 to Strabane Access Youth Engagement for the 12-month ‘Strabane Youth Support Programme’. Covering Strabane town and surrounding villages including Sion Mills, Clady, Glebe, Artigarvan, Donemana, Bready and Magheramason, it will recruit fifteen disengaged and marginalised young people involved in, or at risk of being involved in, the criminal justice system.

Communities in Partnership Programme (CiPP)

County Donegal and County Armagh

£117,605/€132,894 to Politics in Action for the 12-month ‘Cross-border Youth Voice’ project that will work with Loretto Community School, Milford, The Royal & Priory Comprehensive School, Raphoe and Magherafelt High School and Lismore College in Craigavon. It will deliver a range of programmes and initiatives for ninety six pupils and eight teachers on a cross-border, cross-community basis, including teacher residentials and four community visits, trips to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Dail Eireann in Dublin along with Curriculum Development workshops.

County Derry-Londonderry and County Donegal

£86,186/€97,390 to NorthWest Cultural Partnership and Inishowen Development Partnership (IDP) for the 12-month ‘Embrace Too’ project that will work across the Derry City and Strabane District Council and Donegal County Council areas while continuing to develop networks in Dublin. The funding will help to deliver four different elements to 1,258 direct participants and consist of ‘Up North’, ‘Talent Development’, ‘Art of The Community’, and ‘Social Development’.

County Fermanagh and County Monaghan

£72,823/€82,290 to Peace Players International and Peace Link for the one-year ‘Border Unity Basketball & Leadership Project’ (BUBL) that will operate within Clones and Enniskillen in the Monaghan and Fermanagh border region. Training will be offered to 20 young people, 10 from either side of the border, aged 16 -25 years, as well as six cross-border Primary School Twinning Programmes, and a Super Twinning Game of Three Halves involving 12 schools and 300 participants.

County Louth  
                 
£95,710/€108,152 to Community Finance Ireland and NICVA for the one-year ‘Networx’ project that will work in the border counties of Leitrim, Cavan, Sligo, Louth, Monaghan, and Donegal, and the Northern Ireland border counties. Targeting Unionist communities and the Orange Order, and Nationalist communities and the GAA, it will facilitate cross-community engagement with people who have limited opportunity for collaborative working.

County Donegal and County Antrim

£126,162/€142,563 to Rathmullan the Way Forward and Enterprise Causeway Ltd for the 12-month ‘The Coasts Hills and Glens – Connecting Communities’ project – a social innovation initiative that is connecting development groups operating in traditional Unionist (Bushmills, County Antrim) and Nationalist (Rathmullan, County Donegal) communities – north and south – through their shared development interests in social innovation practice.

Counties Donegal, Derry-Londonderry, Tyrone, Louth, Down, Sligo and Leitrim

£82,115/€92,790 to Storytellers of Ireland and Armstrong Storytelling Trust for a one-year project that will expand into the cross-border areas of Donegal, Derry-Londonderry, Tyrone, Louth, Down, Sligo and Leitrim with the Armstrong Storytelling Trust to offer additional OCN accredited cross-border storytelling training courses, while supporting the development of relationships across the border between both organisations and participants.