The Department of Education is allocating £72,000 for a new British-Irish Youth Exchange programme.
The Minister of State for Education, Mr Willie O'Dea, said the programme aimed to increase levels of activity to improve relationships between young people in these islands. The overall funding for the programme will be £144,000 shared equally by the two governments. There is also the strong possibility that the exchange programme will have corporate sponsorship.
It will be run from the Irish side by Leargas on behalf of the Department of Youth Affairs. "The new programme is a very significant development in light of the East-West co-operation envisaged in the Belfast Agreement," he said.
