International Fund for Ireland in peace warning

The International Fund for Ireland has announced more than £2.6m support for peace-building initiatives across NI and the border counties.

However, it is warning that the ongoing current political uncertainty is posing a risk for peace.

Seventeen projects are receiving funding, including five projects in the Peace Walls Programme.

The groups work with residents in interface areas of Belfast and Londonderry.

The fund said the groups “are facing difficult conversations and are in danger of halting the significant progress that has been made in recent years in some of the most contentious interface areas in Northern Ireland”.

“Without a functioning executive and political representatives working together in partnership at Stormont, the community sector is left at risk of being polarised once again,” the fund’s Dr Adrian Johnston said.

“We are calling for appropriate levels of support for all communities in interface areas once walls are removed or softened.

“If support isn’t offered, progress in peace-building may be negatively affected, which could lead to residents losing faith in the process on the ground.”

The five peace walls projects receiving funding are:

Other groups being funded include a restorative justice scheme in Newry, which is receiving £210,709 to extend its project in the city, south Armagh and along border villages in Louth and Monaghan for two years.

Ulidia Training is being given £223,562 for a two-year project focusing on the rural loyalist communities in the Ballymoney, Causeway Coast and Glens area

“The most marginalised sections of our society are being further impacted by not resolving the long term issues they continue to face as a legacy of the past,” Mr Johnston said.

“Our projects operate in areas that face many of these challenges including deprivation, low employment skills, mental health issues, drugs and alcohol abuse and paramilitary activity to name a few.”