The €30 million for shared education projects in Northern Ireland announced today, Monday, November 30th, within the €229 million Peace and Reconciliation Programme, was important recognition of the role that integrated education could play in resolving community differences in the North.

This was stated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she welcomed the announcement of the new EU Programme for Peace & Reconciliation (Peace 1V) worth a total of €270 million, with €229 provided by the European Regional Development Fund. 

“The support provided by the EU, through successive peace programmes, has meant that since 1995 it has provided €1.56 billion towards a total fund of €2.2 billion dedicated to improving relations between communities in Northern Ireland”, Marian Harkin said.

The new funding would reach deeply into communities within Northern Ireland, ranging from shared education projects to the €57 million to be directed towards the next generation which was still, according to research, negatively affected by the legacy of the conflicts of the past”, Independent MEP Marian Harkin said.