One of the major funders of Let's Talk is Area Development Management (ADM) Ltd and the Combat Poverty Agency (CPA), through the European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation. Rita McNulty, a development worker with the programme, outlines its objectives

One of the major funders of Let's Talk is Area Development Management (ADM) Ltd and the Combat Poverty Agency (CPA), through the European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation. Rita McNulty, a development worker with the programme, outlines its objectives

The European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation was set up following the ceasefires in 1994. Its aims are to reinforce progress towards a more peaceful and stable society and to promote reconciliation by increasing economic development, employment, promoting urban and rural development, developing cross-border co-operation and extending social inclusion.

ADM and CPA jointly manage the programme in the Border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. At the end of 1997 the programme had committed £24 million to 1,000 projects. When considered in a Northern Ireland context, the term "reconciliation" immediately brings a set of ideas and images to mind, of initiatives engaging people from clearly divided communities. However, in the South's Border counties, the context is quite different, and in many ways the programme is breaking new ground. Some of the issues which groups identify in relation to promoting reconciliation include silence and a lack of confidence, the Border division, the need for guidance and support and a sense of alienation from the "coalface" in Northern Ireland - coupled with a desire to "do" something.

It is with these issues in mind that the ADM/CPA programme has designed a pro-active approach to reconciliation which contains four main elements:

1 As part of the assessment process for funding, the programme requires groups to demonstrate how their actions will promote reconciliation.

2 Joint North-South reconciliation events are organised with other funding bodies in Northern Ireland, including initiatives in specific sectors such as employment, youth work and women's education.

3 Seminars and events for funded groups aim to help them address reconciliation within their own communities and programmes. Six reconciliation seminars in each of the Southern Border counties planned for the second half of 1998 will provide groups with a stimulus as well as a consultative mechanism to design tailor-made programmes at county/local level.

4 Work is under way on promoting the integration of reconciliation into junior and senior cycles in the school curriculum as well as developing new curricula.

Formal and informal education, generating a sense of social responsibility and equipping people with the skills, analysis and confidence to address the issue of reconciliation are central to the programme's core role.