Sinn Féin urges Blair to seek EU funds for peace

Peace and reconciliation projects in Northern Ireland and Border counties of the Irish Republic could be said to benefit from a new tranche of special European Union funding, it was claimed tonight.

Sinn Féin sources emerged from a Downing Street meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair optimistic that the British government would apply for European Union money which said had been set aside for peace and reconciliation projects.

Party leader Gerry Adams emerged from the meeting insisting the party was assured the British government would apply for the funds.

The West Belfast MP who was in Brussels yesterday to lobby for the funds, said: “We were assured by the British Prime Minister that it will move to ensure that the application for PEACE III funding is processed quickly.

“This is good news for the many peace and reconciliatio projects which are dependant on EU funding.

“Yesterday in Brussels there was obvious concern that the hundreds of millions of euro potentially available for these projects might be lost if the British government did not apply for it.”

The European Union has allocated almost €1bn to community groups under two Peace and Reconciliation schemes negotiated by Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson and former MEPs, the Reverend Ian Paisley of the DUP and John Hume of the nationalist SDLP.

Mr Adams met the European Commission’s Regional Development Commissioner Danuta Hubner yesterday in a bid to advance the case for a new scheme.

The current PEACE II scheme is due to run out next year.

Sinn Féin sources tonight said the Luxembourg government during its presidency of the European Union had set aside at least €200m for a new scheme but the British government had not applied for it.

A source said: “The Brtish have now given a commitment that they will apply for it and the Irish also want it.

“So we could be looking at more than €200m going to vital community projects which is a good news story in anybody’s book.”