IFI COMMITS £203,000 TOWARDS COMMUNITY PROJECTS

IFI Board Meeting 1THE International Fund for Ireland today confirmed financial assistance worth more than £200,000/€244,000 for eight community groups in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties.

The funding, approved at the organisation’s recent Board Meeting in Fermanagh, will support five new projects that aim to address complex issues linked to the past and provide new options for marginalised young people.

A further three existing projects based in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry will share £22,980/€27,576 to assist communities reach a position where they feel it is safe and appropriate to proceed with the removal of Peace Walls in interface areas.

Dr Adrian Johnston, Chairman of the International Fund for Ireland, said:

“For almost three decades, the International Fund for Ireland has advanced the push for peace by supporting communities to take necessary risks for peace and secure positive change in difficult areas. The eight projects awarded in this round of funding reflect the type of ambitious work that we are committed to supporting and our willingness to go where others cannot in order to help stabilise the Peace Process.”

“In less than two years, our Peace Walls Programme has delivered significant progress in terms of confidence and relationship building measures, and has begun a schedule of works to transform interface neighbourhoods. Similarly the Peace Impact Programme has encouraged communities to bring forward innovative solutions to complex issues like parading and interface tensions. Many are making the first efforts to engage with marginalised individuals – particularly young people – and groups who remain disconnected from government interventions.”

He added: “The need for more interventions like these at community level remains critically high. It is only right that groups who are willing to tackle the root causes of sectarianism and deliver stability and prosperity are properly supported to do so.”

The latest funding package includes commitments:

  • £29,825/€35,790 to Black Mountain Shared Space Project to deliver an 11-month apprenticeship youth project in the Highfield and Springmartin areas of north and west Belfast.
  • £28,219/€33,862 to Conflict Resolution Services Ireland to deliver a community engagement and consultation project in Belfast with young people, ex-prisoners/combatants and others.
  • £25,500/€30,600 to Ultoniae Cultural & Heritage Society to provide a 10-month community engagement, training, education and peace building project in the greater North Antrim area.
  • €46,500/£38,735 to County Leitrim Grand Orange Lodge for a project that will support members of the minority protestant population in Co Leitrim, to take part in cross-community and peace and reconciliation events.
  • €69,500/£57,890 to Lá Nua for a nine-month programme of accredited training and development work with the target group of republican ex-prisoners and their families in Counties Leitrim and Donegal

Since commencing last year, the Peace Impact Programme has supported 48 projects across Northern Ireland and the southern border counties of Ireland with £3,500,000/€4,182,000 in funding. It aims to build sustainable peace and reconciliation within and between communities suffering from high levels of economic and social deprivation; where there have been low levels of engagement in peace building; and where there remains a continued risk of instability and violence.

Further information about all the beneficiaries from the International Fund for Ireland’s latest funding package is available at the International Fund for Ireland’s website: www.internationalfundforireland.com

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