RURAL COMMUNITIES PURSUE PEACE

07 June 2006

More than 90 community groups have applied to the Northern Ireland Rural Development Council (RDC) for European Union funding to continue Peace and Reconciliation work in Northern Irelands’ rural areas.

This follows the closure of the final call for applications from community based organizations to the EU Peace II Extension Measure: Rural Reconciliation and Regeneration. This measure offered financial assistance for rural communities engaging in peace-building, social inclusion and rural regeneration projects. RDC, which manages this measure for the Special EU programmes Body, has now embarked on the assessment of projects which applied during the 12 week timeframe.

Commenting on the applications received, Programmes Manager Olga Gallagher said ‘RDC is extremely encouraged by the variety, numbers and geographic spread of applications received. This Measure has demonstrated a high demand for peace funds from across the rural sector, which unfortunately far exceeds our resources. Whilst our budget is limited we hope to be able to support a range of projects involved in peace building and rural regeneration across rural Northern Ireland.’

The RDC Measure specifically focuses on support to rural communities and over the extension period a further £5.5 million (€8m) of European Union funding will be invested in Northern Ireland's rural areas. To date over 25 groups have received funding through the first call for applications to this measure.