Monaghan Peace Campus

The Monaghan Peace Campus is a new shared community space encompassing a four-storey community building and parking in the centre of Monaghan town. The new space includes: 

• Youth Facility 
• Cultural Heritage Centre 
• Library and Peace Archive
• Shared Community Multi-Functional Space 
• Welcome Zone and temporary Exhibition/Event Space
• External events space 

The Peace Campus was developed through cross-community engagement and consultation sessions, focus groups and online questionnaires, all of which included representatives of the Protestant and Catholic Community. The project has, for the first time, secured the involvement, support and commitment of the Orange Order and Ulster Scots Agency. This is the first time either agency has participated in a PEACE Programme in County Monaghan. The new shared space has been designed to increase engagement of individuals and communities on a cross-community and cross-border basis through meaningful, purposeful and sustained activities in a proactive programme of activities and events. 

Core activities that will be explored in the new space include: 

• The impacts and experiences of partition and the conflict 
• Immigration past and present and how that continues to shape society and sense of community today, including challenges for BME Communities 
• Culture and tradition with a focus on exploring and presenting Protestant culture to a wider audience 

The Peace Campus project was developed to address the needs that still exist in our communities today such as issues of segregation, fears to engage and an unwillingness to express identity. This project will allow all communities to come together to engage in a safe setting. It will be of major significance as it is the first time that the Orange Order and the Ulster Scots Agency have engaged in a Peace Programme in County Monaghan.

Eamonn O’Sullivan, Chief Executive, Monaghan County Council