No allocation has been made to the International Fund for Ireland in US President George Bush's proposed budget, although a spokesman for the Irish embassy in Washington said the Government was confident that an allocation would be made when the budget came before Congress for approval.
The IFI was set up in 1986 after a visit to deprived areas in Donegal and Derry by the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, the late "Tip" O'Neill. Its purpose is to promote economic regeneration and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and in the Border counties of the Republic. Some 5,500 projects have received a total of €768 million from the IFI since its foundation.
The Bush administration's contribution to the IFI has fallen from $25 million to $18.5 million, and the current proposed budget envisages no allocation at all. However, the embassy spokesman said: "We are not treating this as a significant development."
He said it was not the first time the IFI had been left out of the budget: "It happened in the past. It was normal under the first President Bush. It's up to Congress to decide the budget. The president makes essentially a wish-list."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, is visiting New York and Washington this week and would be "emphasising the need for continued assistance".
In May 2003, a Washington think-tank which monitors US government waste sharply criticised the $25 million given to the IFI at that time. In its annual report, Citizens Against Government Waste claimed that US taxpayers' money given to the IFI was being spent on wasteful projects and on Irish companies making golfing videos and exporting sweaters. An IFI spokesman said that the claims were inaccurate.
The British and Irish governments, the European Commission and the governments of Canada, Australia and New Zealand also support the IFI, which invested €36.5 million last year in more than 300 projects. In 2004, the EU gave €15 million to the IFI, while Canada gave the equivalent of €241,000.
Mr William McCarter is stepping down as IFI chairman after 12 years. He will be succeeded by another Northern businessman, Mr Denis Rooney. The IFI is shifting its focus towards reconciliation work as a result of the economic boom.