Counties along the border have benefited hugely from peace fund s, writes Tim O'Brien, Regional Development Correspondent
Development agencies in Northern Ireland and the Republic's Border region are counting on a smooth transition to devolution in the North on Tuesday, as the EU prepares major cuts in the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation.
If devolution goes through, the pay-off is set to include a long-term, €63 billion support package for Northern Ireland from the British government, with a further €580 million to be added by the Irish Government.
But whatever happens on Tuesday, the regions north and south of the Border are facing swingeing cuts in their principal development aid package, the "Peace Programme" as it is better known.
The programme, which has overseen investment of more then €1.6 billion between 1995 and 2006, comes under the EU heading of "structural funds", which in future will focus on Central and Eastern Europe. The next seven years will see Peace Programme funding fall from a high of about €160 million a year to €300 million for the whole 2007 to 2013 period.
None of this may matter much if devolution and the British €63-billion package goes ahead, and today, in Co Louth, when Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern announces an additional €13 million in support for Border regions,from the International Fund for Ireland, he will stress the benefits which have already accrued.
These include the Shannon-Erne Waterway and the prospect of the reopening of the Ulster Canal, as well as new roads and tourism-product development.
But development agencies are nervous. The Centre for Cross Border Studies in Armagh has been a huge beneficiary of Peace Programme money, getting a series of grants since 1999 ranging from about €50,000 to €250,000 for its projects in training and education. "There just wouldn't be a centre if it were not for the Peace Programme," says director Andy Pollak.
Equally adamant about the value of the funds is one of the founders of the Shaylyn Traditional Arts Centre in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, Jane Gilheaney . The centre, which is planning a traditional dance festival in September, is the first in Ireland to offer university-level courses in traditional dance, in association with the University of Limerick. It was funded by Interreg - another EU programme - and Peace Programme money.
Launched just last month, it has a staff of 23. "We are creating employment and training based on a natural resource in an area where there is no employment. It wouldn't have happened without the grant aid," she says.
On the Leitrim/Fermanagh border, the villages of Kiltyclogher and Cashel have developed a Peace Park. During The Troubles, links between the Border villages were severed with the removal of the crossing bridge between Co Fermanagh and Co Leitrim. The Kilty-Cashel Movement, with help from the Peace Programme, is rebuilding old connections and creating a spirit of optimism for the future.
Other projects include seven-year funding for the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, which enabled about 140 young musicians to travel across the US, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Boston Symphony Hall, as well as visits to Finland and the Czech Republic. While some grants were very small and the number of administering authorities is bewildering, the very size of the Peace-Programme fund means aid is spread very widely at a grass-roots level.
A report out last November from the Special EU Programmes Body said 46,000 people had participated in projects aimed at facilitating reconciliation and peace building, social and urban regeneration, and providing training for children and young people who have been particularly affected by the conflict. Of the 46,000, approximately 9,600 have gained qualifications and more than 5,000 have entered or progressed within employment, education or further training.
More than 1,350 projects have been supported and two new rural bus stations, an additional 20 buses, upgraded facilities at four railway stations and two new bypasses have been funded.
THERE ARE OTHER EU programmes in operation, such as Interreg, which has grant aided larger infrastructural projects, including a new oil terminal at the port of Derry. One of the largest terminals to be developed in the UK and Ireland in several decades, it represents a commercial and industrial landmark development, expected to boost the economies on both sides of the Border in the northwest.
Interreg also funded a collaborative project involving centres of engineering excellence in the North East Institute and the Institute of Technology, Sligo. This helped local companies to develop expertise in robotics and integrated, automated manufacture. Companies now compete on international stages, while the skills base of the local workforce has increased.
Interreg has been a valuable aid for infrastructural projects and its budget is set to increase over the next seven years, but at €182 million from 2000 to 2006 it was dwarfed by the Peace Programme's €1 billion over the same period.
In fact, most sources of funding were dwarfed by the relatively low-profile Peace Programme money. An example of the scale and importance of the Peace Programme can be had from comparison to the much more high-profile Ireland Funds, which are overseen by Dr AJF O'Reilly.
The Ireland Funds contributed an average of €2 million to the Border region and Northern Ireland in 2005 and again in 2006. At that time the Peace Programme money was worth roughly €160 million a year.
While the €63 billion package for Northern Ireland to be provided by the British government looks like a bonanza, there is still much uncertainty about what it will cover and whether there is an element of "double counting", by including existing financial support for Northern Ireland.
Civil servants in Belfast find it hard to be enthusiastic about the move, remarking that much detail has yet to be explained.
The €63 billion package includes an already promised, albeit updated, strategic capital-investment plan totaling £18 billion (€26 billion) over the period 2005 to 2017, to be spent on roads, health, schools, third-level education and other priorities. The "extra" money development agencies will be counting on is the difference between the current €10 billion per year in support, to €11.67 billion per year in 2010-2011.
By no standards is that a small amount of money but agencies will want to see the details before they celebrate.
And that depends on everything going smoothly on Tuesday.
Follow the money - the agencies getting the North back on track
The main providers of development aid in Northern Ireland are:
The EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation:Known as the Peace Programme, Peace One (1995-1999) and Peace II (2000-2006) saw more than €1.5 billion invested in Northern Ireland and counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.
The British government put up more than €400 million and about €1 billion came directly from the EU. The Irish Government's contribution was €154 million. The main aim of the fund is to promote reconciliation and help to build a more peaceful and stable society.
The Interreg Programme:The Interreg Programme is an EU initiative designed to support cross-Border co-operation, social integration and economic development between regions of the EU. The Northern Ireland/Ireland Programme covers all of Northern Ireland and the Border counties as well as Sligo. It aims to address the economic and social disadvantage that can result from the existence of a border. This fund contributed €182 million from 2000 to 2006, and encompassed larger infrastructural projects, including (pictured right) a collaborative project involving centres of engineering excellence in the North East Institute and the Institute of Technology, Sligo, which helped local companies to develop expertise in the emerging technology areas of robotics and integrated automated manufacture.
OCI:Other Community Initiatives (OCI) from the EU being implemented in Northern Ireland and the Border counties include: Leader Plus, which provides aid to rural local-action groups to develop the economy; Equal, which is designed to provide funds to tackle discrimination and inequality; and Urban II, which aids economic and social regeneration in cities. Total funding for the three initiatives is in the order of €60 million over five to six years. OCI as well as the Peace Funds and Interreg funds come under the monitoring remit of the Special EU Programmes Body, which has offices in Monaghan Town and Belfast.
The International Fund for Ireland:It has contributed €809 million since 1989. Some €244 million of this came as a contribution from the EU. About 30 per cent of the projects were cross-Border in nature while 25 per cent were based in the Republic. It has offices in Dublin and Belfast.
The Ireland Funds:Dr AJF O'Reilly's global philanthropic network for Ireland is currently based in about a dozen countries worldwide. It invests across the island of Ireland. Its investment in Northern Ireland and the Border counties in 2005 and 2006 was on average €2 million a year.
The Innovation Fund:This was announced by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown last March. It features an additional €150 million to foster innovation in Northern Ireland. Some €53 million is to be provided by the Irish Government with matched funding from the UK and the rest leveraged from the private sector.
Additional British and Irish government aid.Last November the British government announced a long-term €63 billion support package of which €520 million is to come from the Irish government.
