Vol. 505 No. 1
8 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach if he will ensure funding is provided for the millennium proposal put forward by Kilbride national school, County Meath (details supplied) to build a peace house on the site of the Parnell Street bomb as a memorial to all those who died in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10805/99]
9 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach when the national millennium committee last met; when it will meet again; if he will give a progress report on its work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [ 12972/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 9 together.
The national millennium committee, which I chair, is to make recommendations to Government on project proposals of national significance for inclusion in the Government's millennium programme and recommend a system for supporting community, local, county or regional projects which will provide an opportunity for local communities, including in areas of disadvantage, to participate in the millennium commemoration.
The national millennium committee meets at least once every month. Its last meeting was held on 22 April and it is to meet again tomorrow, 20 May. Since its establishment towards the end of last year the committee has made substantial progress, including the design of a national millennium logo following a competition in third level colleges of art and design, North and South; the processing of over 500 proposals as a result of a public invitation to submit projects for the millennium; recommending and receiving the Government's approval for the following awards from the millennium fund: £1 million for Millennium Festivals Limited; £2 million for Míle Átha Cliath for its Liffey of Lights and Liffey Boardwalk projects, and £80,000 for the Millennium Book project, Write Here, Write Now. The work of the committee is ongoing and under the terms of its remit it reports regularly to Government.
The National Millennium Committee has received a large number of project proposals. To ensure millennium funding is available for locally-based projects, the Government, on the recommendation of the committee, recently approved a millennium recognition awards initiative to be administered by Area Development Management Limited on behalf of the committee. A sum of £1.9 million of millennium funding is to be made available for awards under this initiative and details will be announced shortly.
A number of letters have been received from students in Kilbride national school, County Meath suggesting that a peace house be built on the site of the Parnell Street bomb as a memorial to all those who died in the Dublin and Monaghan bombing of 1974. As Deputies will appreciate, there are a number of issues which would need to be considered for such a project to go ahead, for example, the ownership of the site, funding and implementation of the project. The proposal will be considered by the national millennium committee in the context of its mandate. It would greatly assist the committee in its consideration of the project if a more developed proposal was submitted to it.
I thank the Minister of State for his fair reply in regard to the Kilbride national school initiative. I will follow it up.
