Youth peace-building project receives £150,000 funding boost

A PEACE-BUILDING project that aims to promote the cross-community relationships of young people living on the Strabane/Lifford border has been awarded a grant of more than £150,000.

The International Fund for Ireland (IFI) has awarded £3,305,873/ €3,789,268 to 17 projects across the North and the border counties of Ireland to deliver peace and reconciliation work, with Youth and Lifford Clonleigh Resource Centre receiving £151,339 (€171,014) to fund its 24-month ‘Leadership Education for the Appreciation of Diversity’ (L.E.A.D) project. The initiative will work with new groups of up to 35 young people each year, aged 16-to-20, from communities on each side of the East Donegal-West Tyrone border, in partnership with local schools.

Outreach group work will also see the project link up with youth groups, sports clubs, and community organisations.

IFI chair, Paddy Harte, said that by empowering young people to take control of their lives, the projects can give communities the tools to help create stability and opportunity for future generations.

“We recognise that a lot of progress has been made, but the reality on the ground indicates that there are many who feel that the Peace Process has not delivered what it should have – particularly in the most vulnerable and marginalised communities across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland,” he said.

“Our projects are working within incredibly challenging environments where issues around culture, identity, flags, bonfires, sectarianism, trauma and ongoing paramilitary influences are causing deep division.

“Recent elections may also have stirred up disaffection within communities, creating more extreme political views.

“This can often create a vacuum of instability, particularly in marginalised communities, where young people can be more susceptible to paramilitary or criminal influence. Part of this funding is providing targeted interventions for at-risk young people, instilling confidence, and offering more positive life choices.”

The IFI was set up by the British and Irish Governments as an independent international organisation in 1986.

It delivers a range of peace and reconciliation initiatives across Northern Ireland and the southern border counties. It currently supports a total of 64 projects in the North, and 27 in the southern border counties.