The UK government has pulled its funding for an internationally regarded Irish peace and reconciliation project because of budget cuts imposed by Westminster.
The UK had committed to paying £4 million to the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) between 2021 and this year, in four instalments of £1 million.
A UK government spokeswoman said the current British government “inherited a very challenging fiscal position” which meant it could not afford the final £1 million instalment. The Irish Government said it “hopes” the UK will consider funding the scheme again.
The IFI is an independent international organisation set up by the British and Irish governments in 1986 to promote economic, social and peace developments in Northern Ireland and the Border counties. It was designed to bring civic society groups on both sides of the Border, and both Northern Irish communities, together.
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The IFI funds the peace barriers programme, a community project designed to build local support for the removal of peace walls and barriers in Belfast and Derry. It also funds a Peace Impact Programme, which is designed to target communities suffering from social deprivation that have not traditionally been involved in peace and reconciliation programmes.
It has also recently funded Foróige Drogheda; a youth engagement project in Milford, Co Donegal; and a social enterprise project based in the Republic that connects 20 communities on either side of the Border.
The biggest contribution to the fund has traditionally come from the US government, but it has also benefited from funding from the European Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the both the Irish and UK governments.
The IFI has been credited as an initiative which helped lay the groundwork for the Belfast Agreement, with former UK government negotiator Jonathan Powell describing it as “the great unsung hero of the peace process”. The success of the IFI also inspired proposals to create a similar Middle Eastern peace fund for Israel and Palestine.
The UK government confirmed to The Irish Times that it had pulled its contribution to the fund for 2024-2025 because of budget cuts.
“This government inherited a very challenging fiscal position, and needed to take difficult but necessary decisions to place the public finances on a sustainable footing. As a result, the government has decided not to continue with the £1m contribution to the International Fund for Ireland in 2024-25. The government remains supportive of the IFI’s aims of promoting peace and reconciliation,” a spokeswoman for the UK government said.
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The Department of Foreign Affairs said the UK government had committed to contributing £4 million to deliver the IFI’s current strategy, which will finish at the end of 2025.
“This was warmly welcomed by the IFI and £3 million was received. We are aware that the UK government indicated they were not in a position to make the final £1 million instalment of funding in 2024,” a spokesman for the department said.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the UK in support of the IFI and hope that the UK will consider further funding to the IFI when its new strategy for 2026-2030 is launched at the end of this year. The Irish Government contributed €4 million to the IFI in 2025.”
