Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Starting in 1995, successive iterations of the European Union’s cross-border PEACE programmes had by the end of 2020 committed some €2.3 billion in support of shared peace and prosperity on the island of Ireland. For the current 2021-27 EU programming period, the new PEACEPLUS programme is now investing a further €1.145 billion across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland and a number of calls for project applications are currently open.

With the exception of the first PEACE programme (1995-99), these programmes run on seven year funding cycles, in line with the EU’s Multi-Annual Financial Framework. In the case of each programme, a core funding allocation is provided from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the balance provided through national match funding.

The total funding allocation for each PEACE programme and its sources is provided in tabular form below.

*For PEACEPUS this includes UK ERDF equivalent

The PEACE programmes, as well as the EU’s cross-border North South INTERREG programmes, have been developed and managed since 1999 by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), a cross-border North South Implementation Body established under the Good Friday Agreement and jointly sponsored by my Department and the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland.

The SEUPB maintains the PEACE Programmes Learning Platform, an online repository of archives and key records relating to the programmes.