Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 5 Oct 1999

Vol. 508 No. 3

Ceisteanna – Questions. - Northern Ireland Issues.

Enda Kenny

Ceist:

1 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach if projects promoting reconciliation between North-South and East-West only were selected for funding under the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust Fund; whether the funds were distributed only to organisations actively concerned with reconciliation, that favour the Good Friday Agreement and are not engaged in any sectarian activities; the criteria considered in the distribution of the funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17325/99]

The Taoiseach:

As I stated in my reply to a question on this matter on 1 June last, the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust Act, 1988, provides that the money received from the trust be disposed of for the purposes of projects or undertakings, including the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, involving co-operation between the State and Northern Ireland or the State and Britain or relating to the island of Ireland as a whole.

In December of last year, my Department placed advertisements in the Irish national and Northern Irish newspapers as well as the Irish Post in Britain, inviting applications from organisations or individuals for funding for projects which would fall under the terms of the 1988 Act and, in particular, would promote mutual understanding and reconciliation, or which would sustain and develop ventures on an island of Ireland basis or which would promote the welfare of the Irish community in Britain.

In assessing submissions, priority was given to organisations that would have difficulty obtaining commercial sponsorship or where the organisation or proposal would not normally or readily be funded by other Departments, statutory agencies or other public authorities, by reference to functions discharged or services provided. Furthermore, because of the relative availability of funding from other sources for North-South co-operation, priority was accorded to projects or undertakings as between the State and Britain, and relating to the island of Ireland as a whole.

Following an assessment process which was undertaken by the interdepartmental committee, 59 applications were selected which best met the criteria for disbursement of the funds available. Included among these are a significant number containing cross-community or cross-traditional elements that provide opportunities for the Government to demonstrate, in a practical way, the commitments entered into under the Good Friday Agreement to promote reconciliation on the island of Ireland and between the people of Ireland and Britain and to show respect for the diversity of traditions on the island.

Reflecting the priorities decided by me, 52.6 per cent of the total funding was allocated on an east-west basis, 36.2 per cent to projects involving the Irish community in Britain and 16.4 per cent to the other projects involving east-west co-operation. Some 47.4 per cent of the funding was allocated to projects on the island of Ireland, 32 per cent to projects relating to the island of Ireland as a whole and 15.4 per cent to projects involving North-South co-operation.

The 59 projects selected constitute a balanced package and I am delighted to have had the opportunity to provide much needed assistance to so many worthwhile initiatives. I have previously circulated with my reply to questions a list of the successful applicants and I am doing so again with this reply. The 59 projects to be assisted are as follows:

Aberdeen – Research Institute of Irish and Scottish studies

Action Group for Irish Youth

An Teach Bán, County Donegal

Armagh Observatory

AVARI

Beyond '96 Youth Club

Boomerang

Bradford – Irish diaspora research unit

Bray and North Wicklow Women's Network

British Irish Association

British Association of Irish Studies

Cambridge Group for Irish Studies

CARA Housing Association

Centre for Peace and Development Studies

Children's Holiday Scheme

Copernicus project

Cork Lions Club

Corrymeela

Cost of the Troubles Study

Cystic Hygroma

Family Welfare Association

Federation for Ulster Local Studies

Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation

Huddersfield Irish Association

Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations

Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants

Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas

Irish Community Care Manchester

Irish Genealogical Research Society

Irish in Britain Representation Group

Bath – Spa University

Irish Youth Choir

Islington Women's Counselling Centre

World War 2 – Study of Military Wrecks

Journey of Reconciliation Trust

Keele University – Department of Criminology

Leicester Irish Studies Centre

London Irish Centre

Military Heritage of Ireland Trust

Oxford Hertford College

Parents for Choice

Royal National Institute for Deaf and National Association for the Deaf

RehabCare Coventry

RNLI

Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Royal Irish Academy

REACH across the Diamond, Derry

South London Family Service Unit

Safe Start Trust

Salmon of Knowledge – Shankill school and

St. Mary's BNS Rathfarnham

Scouting Ireland

UCD Department of Folklore

Ulster Society

University of North London

University of Bradford

Voluntary Service International

WIRE – Warrington

Women on Ireland Network – Britain

YMCA Ireland.

Mr. Kenny:

Will the Taoiseach indicate the total number of applications received and the amount of money allocated under this fund? How were these allocations made? Did an independent committee analyse the applications and make decisions?

The Taoiseach:

An interdepartmental committee, an assessment committee, made the recommendations. Several hundred applications were made. I put on the record previously information on this and I can provide it to the Deputy again. Some 59 were selected from what I understand to have been approximately 200 applications in the first instance. Before the advertisements were placed, selection was based on a set of criteria and terms of reference which were set down for the bodies to consider.

Mr. Kenny:

It is fair to say that the Ulster Unionist Party was responsible for the insertion in the Good Friday Agreement of the words "recognition of diversity of tradition". Will the Taoiseach provide an example of how this diversity of tradition was recognised in the allocations to the groups concerned? Is he happy that none of the organisations awarded allocations under this scheme was in any way involved in sectarian activities or in activities opposed to the Good Friday Agreement?

The Taoiseach:

The RNLI is one such body which reflects the diversity of interests. Others include the Journey of Reconciliation Trust, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Cork Lions Club and the organisation involved in the restoration of the cenotaph. Some applications were ruled out by the group because it could not be certain of their bona fides. I am not aware, however, of the involvement of any organisation that had a difficulty with the Good Friday Agreement; none was brought to my attention.

Mr. Quinn:

The Taoiseach may recall that when this matter was last raised in the House I brought to his attention that the hospital in Leopardstown, which was established to care for the victims of the first and second world wars, was excluded from consideration by this committee on the grounds that it had access to other sources of funding, namely, from the health board and the Department of Health and Children. An undertaking was given that the deficit in its capital programme – a small amount of money – by which it was debarred from applying to this fund, notwithstanding that it was perhaps the most eminently qualified, given the title of the trust, would be made up by the Department of Health and Children or the health board. Is the Taoiseach in a position to indicate whether an additional allocation was made to it above and beyond the amount it would normally get from the health board or the Department of Health and Children?

The Taoiseach:

I recall the representations and that Deputy Quinn raised the matter in the House. I undertook not to give a commitment on the deficit but to ask the Department of Health and Children to look at it and to ask the Minister to visit the hospital. He has done that. I do not know the conclusions of that visit but I asked him, based on what was said during the debate here, to meet the board's representatives to see what could be done because of their circumstances. I can follow up on that if the Deputy wishes. Perhaps he ought to put down a question.

Mr. Quinn:

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply and ask him to follow up on this matter. As Deputy Kenny has said, the Unionist party sought the inclusion of the phrase "the recognition of the diversity of tradition on this island". Most of the people who were patients in that hospital, but not all, had fought in two world wars, certainly in the last world war. Many of them would have been of a Unionist persuasion, though not all, and they certainly fall into that category. Now that the Government has more money than it had anticipated, and since this is a capital application rather than a current account application, would the Taoiseach undertake to come back to me and let me know the outcome of the Minister's visit to that hospital?

The Taoiseach:

I will do that.