£3m fund to aid deprived Ulster communities

The British government has announced £3m (€4.5m) in funding for efforts to break the stranglehold of loyalist paramilitaries in deprived areas in the North.

The announcement of a local community fund was made by Tony Blair after yesterday’s round of talks at Hillsborough, Co Down.

Mr Blair said it would “try to bring forward from both sides of the community leaders who can develop the right type of community action and development in their local communities“.

Northern Ireland's Social Development Minister Des Browne said the problem in loyalist areas was that positive voices had often been drowned out by gangsterism.

“We have identified a need in these communities to build a community capacity to engage in politics so that people are not undermined in what they are seeking to do by paramilitarism.

“They also want the strength to be able to face down the paramilitaries and the gangsters,” he added.

Mr Browne said the money would not be targeted exclusively at loyalist areas but said there was a real need to address the problems of Protestant working class communities.

“There happens to be a problem in loyalist communities and we recognise that, and it is in everybody’s interests if we address that issue in loyalist communities and that we show them that politics can work to their advantage.

“We will be conscious of the need to spread this money equally because it would do a disservice to what we are trying to achieve if the fund itself became a problem.

“We will, of course, use the fund to develop capacity where there is none and that, unfortunately, sometimes is in loyalist areas,” he said.

The money was welcomed by Independent Unionist councillor Frank Coubrey, who represents the Shankill area of west Belfast.

“I hope the money will be administered in the proper way and directed to the areas that really need it,” he said.