A number of community and peacebuilding projects supported by the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) fear they will close due to the reported loss of vital funding from the US.
It also emerged this week that the UK government had pulled a promised £1 million, citing budgetary pressures.
However, multiple organisations told The Irish Times their “bigger concern” was the halting of the US contribution to the peacebuilding and reconciliation body.
The IFI said it had received financial support from “a range of international donors including the US government” and was seeking clarity and support from its US partners.
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The peacebuilding organisation was established by the British and Irish governments in 1986 to promote economic and social development and bring together nationalist, unionist and cross-Border communities.
Since then, the IFI has spent €974 million supporting more than 6,000 projects, including efforts to remove peace walls and to prevent young people from being recruited or attacked by paramilitaries.
The US government has traditionally been the IFI’s largest funder. According to the IFI’s accounts, its donations last year came from two sources, €2.5 million from the US and €5.5 million from the Irish Government.
USAid, which administers foreign aid for the US government, was closed by president Donald Trump earlier this year.
It is not yet clear precisely how this will impact the IFI, but groups which deliver its projects in Ireland fear their funding will not be renewed at the end of this financial year.
“Since Donald Trump removed the USAid ... they’ve been more or less telling us we don’t have any funding,” said a representative of one community organisation, who asked to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardise their contract.
“We’ve been told we should look for other funding if we want to keep the project going.”
Conal McFeely, of Creggan Enterprises, which has previously received IFI funding, said: “We’ve been told the reason the IFI are now considering withdrawing is because they’ve been choked of this funding from USAid, and they’re out telling groups they’re not going to continue their funding”.
Emphasising the “highly significant” role the body had played, he said it was “instrumental in bedding down the peace here and attempting to contain and settle the conflict. They’re a key player”.
But he said “a number of programmes, particularly in the Derry area, including here in Creggan, have been informed it’s likely their programmes will not be funded beyond the current term, and they’ve been told to consider winding the projects down.
“There is a complete lack of alternative funders willing to take a risk ... lots of those initiatives will unfortunately fall by the wayside,” he added.
Mr McFeely added it was “extremely disappointing” the UK government was “withholding its last [£1 million] phase of funding, and that will have a detrimental impact on the ground here in terms of marginalised communities that are still dealing with the fallout from the conflict.
“If the Irish Government is still prepared to put in money, why is the British government not matching that money? It’s scandalous,” he said.
In a statement, the IFI said that it “has received financial support from a range of international donors including the US government, the European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.
“We are grateful for the long-standing support from all our partners, including the bipartisan support under various US administrations,” it said.
“We are continuing to engage with our US partners to seek clarity around support from the US government which will play a key role in the delivery of the IFI’s programmes into the future.”
It said all projects currently funded by the IFI “remain unaffected and their funding is secure as per their letters of offer”.
“Support from the US and others remains critical in our ability to deliver peace and reconciliation initiatives in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties,” the body said.
