Government denies reallocating £1m of peace funding

The Connect Fund was announced after a meeting of the East-West Council

The UK government has denied reallocating £1m of funding from a cross-border peace project to a new scheme aimed at strengthening connections between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Money for the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) was withdrawn, with the government saying there was a "challenging fiscal position".

It emerged after the government in June announced funding of up to £1m to help groups build connections between NI and GB.

The government said the two initiatives were "entirely separate" and it "remains supportive of the IFI's aims of promoting peace and reconciliation".

The IFI was set up by the UK and Irish governments in 1986 and supports work in Northern Ireland and border counties in the Republic of Ireland.

The UK government was due to contribute £4m between 2021 and 2025 in four instalments.

But a spokesman said it "decided not to continue" with a planned £1m contribution in 2024-25.

"This government inherited a very challenging fiscal position, and needed to take difficult but necessary decisions to place the public finances on a sustainable footing," he said.

In June, the government launched a funding scheme worth up to £1m aimed at "strengthening east-west connections".

The Connect Fund was announced after a meeting of the East-West Council.

The council was set up in a deal between the previous Conservative government and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) that saw it return to Stormont after a two-year boycott over post-Brexit trade checks.

Matthew O'Toole, leader of the opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the funding decisions were "deeply concerning".

The Social Democratic and Labour Party assembly member claimed the "north-south and cross-community" aspects of such funding were being "abandoned".

He described the Connect Fund as being "borne out of a clandestine, bilateral deal cooked up between the last Tory government and the DUP".

'Extremely concerning'

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane says "funds like this must continue to be supported"

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane has said he plans to raise the matter with the secretary of state.

He said it is "extremely concerning" that the UK government is to cut the funding.

The North Belfast MP added: "IFI was established to promote peace, reconciliation and a better future for all communities across Ireland.

"Peace is hard-won and hard-fought. It can never be taken for granted, and crucial funds like this must continue to be supported."

SDLP assembly member Matthew O'Toole

The government rejected the concerns and said the decision to introduce the new funding scheme was in response to sectoral needs.

"The UK government did not reallocate money from the IFI to the East-West Council," a spokesperson said.

"These are two entirely separate entities.

"The government remains supportive of the IFI's aims of promoting peace and reconciliation."

A DUP spokesperson said the party welcomed "recent funding announcements".

The Irish government said it contributed €4m (£3.45m) to the IFI in 2025.

A spokesperson for its Department of Foreign Affairs said: "We are aware that the UK government indicated they were not in a position to make the final £1m instalment of funding in 2024.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the UK in support of the IFI and hope that the UK will consider further funding to the IFI when its new strategy for 2026-2030 is launched at the end of this year."

In a statement, the IFI said it had received financial support from a range of donors including the UK, Irish and US governments, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

A spokesperson for the IFI said it was "grateful for the long-standing support from the UK government and the financial assistance provided in supporting our delivery of the IFI's current strategy".

"We look forward to continuing to work with the UK government and our partners in delivering critical peace and reconciliation initiatives in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties," the spokesperson added.