Charlie O'Connor
Ceist:162 Mr. O'Connor asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if assistance will be available from his Department in respect of cross-Border community exchanges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24421/03]
Written Answers. - Northern Ireland Issues.
In the Good Friday Agreement, the participants fully acknowledged and expressed support for the valuable work being carried out by many organisations to develop reconciliation and mutual understanding between and within communities in Northern Ireland and between North and South.
Accordingly, in 1999 the Government increased the funding available for North-South and Anglo-Irish co-operation through this Department's reconciliation fund to £2 million, €2.54 million, an eightfold increase on the previous year. Since then, the fund has disbursed over €11.5 million in support of some 350 projects involved in a wide range of cross-community, cross-Border, reconciliation and outreach activities. In the current year, €2.59 million was allocated to the appropriate subhead. The Estimates for next year are currently under discussion and will be finalised shortly.