A further €530 million (£320 million sterling) is being made available to help social and community initiatives in Northern Ireland until 2004, it was confirmed yesterday. The total amounts to ¤741 million after government add-ons are considered.
The second phase of the EU's Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, known as Peace 2, will help finance initiatives organised by 26 local partnerships in each of the North's council districts. The programme aims to reinforce progress towards peace and stability and promote reconciliation.
An evaluation of the Peace 1 programme, which ran from 1995 to 2000, was released yesterday by the Belfast European Partnership Board. The North's Finance Minister, Dr Sean Farren, said that the partnership model enabled local communities to influence decision-making, both locally and regionally. Development of the partnership approach was central to the Executive's objectives, he added.
"The purpose behind the peace programmes is to make a difference at grassroots level to communities suffering disadvantage as a result of the upheaval of the past 30 years. If I can single out one example at the moment it has to be north Belfast, where significant work by those on the ground in particular is being made more difficult by the current sectarian unrest."
Education Minister Mr Martin McGuinness yesterday launched three funding projects providing more than £26 million sterling, £21 million of which will be used to help young people at risk of social exclusion.
"This is an opportunity to build on established successes and to create new ones. It will be used for projects that will improve the lives of our most vulnerable young people," he said.