Future of the special EU aid package for NI in doubt

THE future of the EU's multi million pound special peace initiative for Northern Ireland may be in jeopardy, according to sources in the European Commission.

A combination of the continued failure to renew the IRA ceasefire and demands for increased budget stringency have raised doubts about the planned extension of the initiative from three years to five, at a potential cost to the North and the Republic's Border counties of £160 million in EU aid.

An internal Commission paper is understood to make the case ford an extension of the funding but sources close to the Regional Affairs Commissioner, Ms Monika Wulf Mathies, a strong supporter of the programme, say she fears the decision may not be straightforward. An extension of the funding is almost certain to have to be met by cuts to other programmes.

The North's three MEPs, Mr John Hume, Mr Jim Nicholson and the Rev Ian Paisley, had been due to meet the Commission President, Mr Jacques Santer, this week in Strasbourg to discuss the issue, but the meeting is understood to have been put back because of scheduling difficulties associated with the parliament's debate on its BSE report.

The EU's £240 million three year special aid package, supplemented by £80 million in contributions from the two governments, was the product of an initiative of the former President of the Commission, Mr Jacques Delors, following the ceasefire.

Eighty per cent of funding was allocated to the North, with the balance going to Border counties in the Republic. It was due to run from 1995 to the end of 1997, but, the Commission had made it clear that, if it was successful, it hoped to continue the funding for a further two years.

The cross Border peace package is targeted primarily at projects' involving work on social exclusion and employment generation and much of the funding is being provided through an innovative system of locally based, cross community or cross Border partnerships.

Teething difficulties with the new structures meant that cash was initially slow to flow, but the problems are understood to have been substantially resolved.

Ms Wulf Mathies, who has taken considerable personal interest in the programme, insists that, in bringing people together throughout the community to work on specific projects the initiative has already made a significant contribution to building the peace process from the bottom up.