Funding for Monaghan Group under Government cross-border initiative – Conlon

Funding of €10,000 has been allocated to Youth Work Ireland Monaghan under the Government’s Reconciliation and Sectarianism Fund, according to local Fianna Fáil TD Margaret Conlon.

Welcoming the funding, Deputy Conlon said that the work ongoing under the Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation and Sectarianism Fund is helping communities in border areas and across the north work together to gain a better understanding of each other’s cultures.

“The significant funding allocated to Youth Work Ireland Monaghan will help to support partnerships between young people from communities in Fermanagh, Monaghan and Belfast.”

“Fianna Fáil in Government has always prioritised working to better relationships between communities north and south of the border.”

“Just this week a number of significant cross border commitments were reaffirmed by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council in Dublin.”

“The meeting was attended by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD First Minister, Peter Robinson MLA, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP MLA. “

“A range of child protection issues including the establishment of the innovative North-South Child Protection website was discussed. Given our border location this co-operation is vital to counties such as Monaghan. “

“These meetings between leaders from both jurisdictions are very important. Fianna Fáil in Government has established very good and effective working relationships with their contemporaries in the North and there is no doubt that the people of Cavan/Monaghan will benefit from this work.”

“I recently heard Fine Gael’s Michael Ring and Charlie Flanagan berate the allocation of such significant funding to projects in the North. I was appalled, but not surprised at his lack of vision for the development of our all island economy. “

“Fianna Fáil in Government has allocated significant amounts of money, hundreds of millions, to projects in the North, but the whole island benefit from this collaborative approach to our all-island economy and I for one am fully supportive of the work which has already been done, and that which was reaffirmed at the meeting of the North South Ministerial Council today,” concluded Margaret Conlon TD.