Background Information
Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland are in the unique position of receiving Peace and Reconciliation funding from the European Union.
Since the mid 1990s, the EU’s interventions through PEACE I (1995 – 1999) and PEACE II (2000 - 2006) have aimed to reinforce progress towards a peaceful and stable society and to promote reconciliation in the region. It has assisted the promotion of social and economic stability in the region with a specific focus on reconciling communities and contributing towards a shared society. This unique EU intervention has both complemented and underpinned the wider work of the two Member States to secure lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
Since 1986, the International Fund for Ireland, co-funded by the EU, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand has also been involved in promoting peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland through economic and social advances. In 2006, the Fund launched a five year strategy ‘Sharing this Space’ as a final phase of activity to promote reconciliation.
Why have a Peace Network?
The experiences of PEACE I and PEACE II have been well documented and evaluated and the two Member States and the Commission have together agreed that there would be considerable merit in sharing and building on this knowledge, through exchange of best practice and learning with others.
All of these experiences can potentially be used to engage with and enrich other regions of Europe that are dealing with conflict, building community relations and creating peaceful societies. At the same time, there are many other regions and cities throughout Europe dealing with conflict and community tensions that will have important and differing experiences to share.
A network which engages with other organisations across Europe will enable reconciliation on a cross-community and cross-border basis to be further discussed and expanded.
Support for the Peace Network
After a sustained period of community conflict lasting nearly forty years, Northern Ireland is now in a period of stability and peace. Since May 2007, devolution has been restored and Northern Ireland is being governed by a cross-community Executive with an overarching aim to build a peaceful, fair and prosperous society. It now wishes to put a renewed emphasis on developing its relationship with Europe to help it meet its wider objectives and to maximise the economic opportunities arising from this new political stability.
The EU institutions and other stakeholders have highlighted the benefits of sharing and exchanging best practice on peace building.
The European Commission Taskforce Report on Northern Ireland, published in April 2008 states that the experience of the Northern Ireland peace process, of which special EU PEACE funding is a part, could make a valuable contribution to conflict prevention, resolution and peace building in other parts of the world. The Report also indicates that the Commission will draw attention to the specific contribution of the PEACE Programmes to social and economic development to countries outside the EU.
The European Parliament adopted a report in May 2008 which called for the experiences of the PEACE I and PEACE II Programmes to be captured and shared across Europe.
The Economic and Social Committee adopted a report in October 2008 on the role of the EU in the Northern Ireland peace process and recommends recording the lessons learned in this EU approach to promoting reconciliation.
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