Seized proceeds of crime used to fund community safety projects

Grants for community projects totalling €2 million and paid for by the proceeds of crime seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) have been announced by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.

Twenty-two community projects around the State received grants of between €5,000 and €150,000 in the first round of funding awarded under the Community Safety Innovation Fund. A total of €3 million will be made available for such grants next year, with the money again coming from assets seized by the bureau.

“By putting this money back into the community, we can show that there is a direct link between the activities of law enforcement and improving community safety,” the Minister said.

Ms McEntee and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe visited the offices of the Dublin Local Community Safety Partnership on James Joyce Street in Dublin 1, which was among the bodies that successfully applied for a grant. The partnership is to receive €150,000 to fund a community safety warden at Wolfe Tone Park, on Jervis Street, Dublin 1.

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There were 124 applications for funding received by the time of the deadline in June. A community safety initiative in Co Monaghan, a Travellers workshop in Co Meath and an intercultural youth hub in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, were among the successful applications.

“One of the objectives of this fund was to encourage the development of innovative ways to improve community safety, from those people who best understand local community safety needs,” Ms McEntee said. “Each project has detailed how best the community wants to prevent crime and their proposals reflect community priorities and local safety needs.”

Mr Donohoe said he wanted to recognise the importance of the work that was being done in the north inner city and how the partnership approach between local communities, local community leaders and State agencies was spearheading positive change in the community and in other communities around the State.