Euro increase will boost funds
Howard Lake | 4 December 2008 | News
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs reconciliation and anti-sectarian funds will get more ‘bang for their buck’ in relation to Northern Ireland due to the strength of the euro against sterling, according to DFA officials.
With the euro increasing in value against sterling between 15-20% in the last eighteen months the €2.5 million funds will go further and help to offset the standstill budget for this year. The new faces administering the fund are Michael Smith and David Costello.
The Reconciliation Fund is operated by the DFA to assist individuals and organisations involved in reconciliation work.
The Reconciliation Fund was established under the Department’s North-South and Anglo-Irish budget in 1982. The Fund’s objectives are to assist individuals and organisations involved in reconciliation work and to encourage and facilitate better relations within and between the traditions in the North, between North and South, and between Ireland and Britain.
The budget of the Reconciliation Fund was increased eight-fold in 1999 to £2m. Since then, the Reconciliation Fund has awarded grants exceeding €23 million to some 650 organisations involved in cross community and cross border reconciliation and outreach projects. Earlier this year the DFA also announced the establishment of an anti-sectarian fund which has a particular focus on conflict at interface areas.
www.embassyofireland.co.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.