Tánaiste announces awards to 72 reconciliation and anti-sectarianism projects

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore T.D., today announced end-of-year funding awards to 72 peace-building and community organisations north and south from the Government’s Reconciliation and Anti-Sectarianism Funds. 

Announcing the funding, the Tánaiste said:

“Northern Ireland is still a very divided society. We saw the potential for sectarian activity to flare up again this summer, so it’s clear that, despite the enormous progress made since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, great challenges remain.

We are supporting these projects to help overcome the problem of sectarianism and to promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland as well as strengthening community relations across the island of Ireland. I am grateful to the groups and individuals who carry out this critical work. It remains as important as ever that we support their efforts.”

These awards support initiatives being undertaken by a wide range of organisations and individuals who have made reconciliation and anti-sectarianism core principles of their work. Recipients included those who are working at the frontline in communities in disadvantaged areas of Northern Ireland and the border counties, those involved in cross-community outreach and in organising sensitive commemorative and other cultural activities and events.

Note for Editors:

As part of the Good Friday Agreement, participants undertook to “positively examine the case for enhanced financial assistance for the work of reconciliation.”.  The budget for this year is €2.7 million - this covers both the Reconciliation Fund and the Anti-Sectarianism Fund.  Since 1999, the two Funds have between them disbursed €30 million to some 1,000 projects in the work of reconciliation.

Examples of the types of projects receiving support from the Reconciliation and Anti-Sectarianism Fund, include:

• Clann Éireann Youth Centre in Lurgan, for its cross-community youth programme run jointly with Lurgan Youth Annexe, which addresses issues of sectarianism and prejudice.
• Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library in Armagh to digitise a number of analogue recordings in its collection.  These recordings were made by Rev Louis O’Kane and featured discussions with participants in the struggle for independence between 1913 and 1921. In addition, the Library plans to create an extensive, cross-referenced Access database and to make the recordings more widely available in the period before the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
• North Belfast Community Development and Transition Group, based in Tiger’s Bay in north Belfast, for their work in engaging local communities and decreasing interface tensions. City Centre Initiative in Derry which is working to achieve a safe and friendly city centre which is accessible to all.  The City Centre Initiative has forged strong relationships with all communities in the interface areas and particular attention has been paid to promoting understanding and acceptance in the context of parades, festivals and other high-profile events including Derry UK City of Culture 2013.

Projects approved for funding are set out below: