Fermanagh District Partnership, which has allocated some £1.3 million of EU Peace and Reconciliation Funds in the county during the past two years, is today unveiling its strategy for the next two years when a further £1 million will be given out.
Some 100 projects have benefited so far, with grants from £500 up to £67,620. They have ranged from the Fermanagh Prisoners' Dependants Association, for former republican inmates, to FEAR - a group of Protestants forced to leave farms along the Border because of the threat of IRA attacks. Many other schemes are not directly linked to the Troubles, but encourage contact between the two communities. The board of the partnership comprises councillors, business and trade union representatives and people from the voluntary and community sector. There is a similar board in each of the 26 council areas in the North. In addition to those partnerships, EU "peace money" is channelled through government departments and bodies such as the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust (NIVT).
The new strategy will focus on two themes - "Valuing People" and "Taking Risks for Peace". One issue the new strategy aims to tackle is that Protestants have not generally been as successful in gaining access to funds as Catholics. It includes programmes to help former prisoners reintegrate into society, to provide support for victims, to assist the long-term unemployed find work, and to give support to women working in agriculture.