RITE AND REASON:The International Fund for Ireland has been a major contributor to peace among Christians in Northern Ireland
THE NEWS that the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation may stage refresher courses for Northern politicians is a reminder that the peace process still has a long way to go.
Geoffrey Corry, a facilitator with Glencree since 1994, told The Irish Timesrecently, "we believe there is still work to be done. There is a whole generation coming up who have not met each other on the DUP and Sinn Féin sides."
The work of Glencree and of the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland is appreciated on both sides of the Border, but perhaps less well-known has been the work of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI). Since 1986 it has received and distributed contributions of about £600 million (€688 million) from the USA and Europe, as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand for more than 5,000 cross-community projects in NI and the Border counties.
This includes the work of Corrymeela, the Christian-based organisation in Ballycastle and Belfast which was established in 1965 to reach across the divide, even before the most recent Troubles began.
Its founder is the Rev Dr Ray Davey, a Presbyterian minister whose experiences in prison camps in the second World War impressed on him the importance of learning to live in a community.
Corrymeela, like other organisations, faced greater funding challenges once the Belfast Agreement became a reality. Its leader, Dr David Stevens, says "we are reverting to normality and there are going to be less resources around".
However, the IFI agreed funding for long-term development, which is proving invaluable to Corrymeela.
"Without this help from the IFI, our anchor projects would not be happening. We are now being equipped to help ourselves on site at Ballycastle for the work of the next 30 years," says Stevens.
The Glencree Centre is also benefiting from IFI funding. Eamon Hickey, joint director general of the fund, says that the work at Glencree is entirely consistent with its objectives.
In NI, the fund is helping the work of the Crossfire Trust at Darkley, where in 1983 three people died and others were injured when the INLA fired on worshippers at a service in the local Pentecostal church.
Ian Bothwell, who set up the Crossfire Trust to provide for the emotional and physical needs of vulnerable people who were suffering because of the troubles, believes that the challenges of dealing with guilt and the results of the conflict in south Armagh are enormous.
"The political structures are not yet secure enough for people to discuss their own involvement in the Troubles or their motive, and yet this insight needs to be shared in order for the other side to understand why some of the kindest people carried out some of the most hateful acts," he says.
The fund would not claim to have all the answers, but it has played an important role in establishing reconciliation projects at the grassroots. Fund chairman Denis Rooney says that he hopes to share its experiences internationally with other groups.
• Alf McCreary is a columnist with the Belfast Telegraph. His book, A Fund of Goodwill, was published recently by the IFI, (€25/£20)