Funding boost for peace centre

An organisation commemorating two children killed in an IRA bomb attack is to receive cash from the Government to support its peace and reconciliation work.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has pledged €29,000 to The Tim Parry/Jonathan Ball Trust in Warrington, England as part of a €1.3m package supporting 39 organisations in Ireland and the UK involved in peace and reconciliation work.

The trust was set up in memory of 12-year-old Tim Parry and three-year-old Jonathan Ball who were killed when two bombs hidden in dustbins at the Golden Square Shopping Mall in Warrington exploded in March 1993.

The centre runs a peace centre in Warrington offering programmes aimed at prompting peace and reconciliation, tackling racism, bullying and helping young fathers.

The funding was announced by Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern during a visit to Belfast yesterday.