County Derry groups to share youth development funding

Three County Derry community groups are set to share funding of more than £260,000 for youth development programmes.

The International Fund for Ireland (IFI) announced last week that it would be awarding £4,430,621 towards peace building to groups throughout Ireland.

Locally, Roe Valley Residents' Association in Limavady has been awarded £94,238 while Coleraine-based Causeway Rural and Urban Network received £87,422.

Maghera Cross Community Link was given £81,891.

The money will be used by the groups for a Personal Youth Development Programme which is unique in its approach and delivery with at risk young people.

The programme aims to increase efforts to divert young people away from criminal behaviour towards programmes, training and initiatives that create better futures.

Thanks to this programme more than 3,200 young people have achieved a range of accreditations and 528 are in further education and training.

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 the North and the southern border counties. It currently supports a total of 40 projects in Northern Ireland and 15 in the southern border counties.

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Welcoming the first funding package from Connecting Communities, IFI Chairman, Paddy Harte said: “The IFI has made significant progress across a number of key areas in our peace and reconciliation work.

"We have played an important role in removing Peace Walls and we helped to divert young people away from paramilitary recruitment and diffused tensions during times of serious civil unrest in the last year.

“While progress must be acknowledged, a number of challenges remain that will require urgent intervention to help improve community relations, reduce instability and the threat of violence.”

And the IFI Chairman Mr Harte added, “The impact of Covid 19, ongoing political uncertainty and elections later this year in Northern Ireland alongside wider all island complexities around Brexit, the NI Protocol and increased calls for Border Polls indicate that tensions will continue to rise in communities who feel they have been left behind.”

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