Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My Department continues to engage with community and voluntary organisations to support all communities across Ireland to develop in a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable manner.

With particular regard to communities in Northern Ireland and the Border counties of Ireland, I am very pleased that my Department shares responsibility for the PEACE IV programme, which supports peace and reconciliation and promotes the social and economic stability of all communities in this region. This programme has delivered significant improvements for all communities, with support and funding provided by my Department.

My Department is currently working with the Special EU Programmes Body, SEUPB, one of the six cross-Border bodies set up under the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, to manage the PEACE programme, and with relevant Northern Ireland departments, on guidance documents and calls for applications. Along with our Northern Ireland counterparts and the SEUPB, my Department is presenting at pre-application support workshops to support potential applicants, including voluntary and community groups. The workshops are focusing on providing applicants with an overview of the PEACE Plus programme, the relevant investment areas, guidance on concept notes and policy interests from a Northern Ireland and Ireland perspective.

It is anticipated that the launch of the PEACE Plus programme will take place in the first half of this year with a value of over €1.1 billion. We need to continue this essential work to continue the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. This new programme represents an opportunity to continue to fund peacebuilding interventions alongside activities which help to make the region a more prosperous, healthier place to live through funding areas of mutual interest on a cross-Border basis.

My Department is also supporting strategic projects such as the Ulster Canal, and my officials have met with their Northern Ireland counterparts to discuss the potential for the Connected Hubs platform to partner with Northern Ireland enterprise and co-working hubs under the shared island fund.

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