Rory Mooney, 21 Mar
Derry City and Strabane District Council and the PEACEPLUS Partnership
Board are celebrating being the first Council in Northern Ireland to
secure funding under PEACEPLUS.
The Local Co-Designed Action Plan has successfully secured £8,047,327
which will fund 58 council area projects.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Patricia Logue
welcoming the news today said: “Reaching this point has been the
culmination of a long process working with, listening to, and
empowering local communities across the entire geography of our city
and district.
"It has involved designing, costing and detailing 58 projects under
three themes – Community Regeneration and Transformation, Thriving and
Peaceful Communities, and Celebrating Cultural Diversity.
Congratulations to everyone involved and for the dedication and team
effort throughout this process.”
Catherine Cooke (Foyle Women’s Information Network / Chair of the
PEACEPLUS Board.) said: “We’re thrilled at the announcement. Getting to
this stage has taken huge commitment and partnership working between
the local community and voluntary sector, the Local Growth
Partnerships, council and statutory agencies.
"The Board are thankful for the momentous energy and patience invested
by everyone engaged in that process. The 58 projects will be tendered
and will pour much needed funding into local communities.
Martin Duffy (Derg Local Growth Partnership / Co-Chair of the PEACEPLUS
Board) added: “This welcome announcement marks a key milestone for our
council area,’ said ‘The funding will make a significant difference to
cross-community engagement, peace and reconciliation and meeting key
needs articulated by the community sector in the co-design phase of the
bid.”
Sue Divin is Derry City and Strabane District Council’s PEACE Manager.
She explained the significance of the announcement.
“The funding is under a specific part of the PEACEPLUS Programme for
local councils to bid for. We will be encouraging local community
groups to look at the opportunities and tender to win the contracts.
"We will also be highlighting how there are 21 other parts of the
PEACEPLUS programme, including Theme 1.2 Small Grants opportunities up
to €100,000.
"Further information is expected to be issued by SEUPB on those in the
next few months, so interested groups should watch for those
opportunities on the SEUPB website. We would strongly encourage groups
from our Council area to apply to maximize the benefit from PEACEPLUS
funding together.”
Anyone wishing to receive information about future Tendering
opportunities under DCSDC Local Co-Designed Action Plan should visit
the website and sign up for direct email updates
on: https://www.derrystrabane.com/community/peace-plus
The Peace Team in Council can be reached via peace@derrystrabane.com
The PEACEPLUS Programme is a funding partnership between the European
Union, the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the
Northern Ireland Executive and will be administered by the Special EU
Programmes Body (SEUPB). Match-funding for this element of the
PEACEPLUS Programme has been provided by the Executive Office in
Northern Ireland and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and
Local Government in Ireland.