€36.5m invested by Fund for Ireland in 2004

A TOTAL of €36.5 million was invested last year in more than 300 projects in the North and the Republic’s border counties by the International Fund for Ireland.

It brings to €768m the total amount committed by the IFI to around 5,500 projects since its launch by the Irish and British governments in 1986.

“The fund’s work has had a concrete effect on the lives of thousands,” said outgoing IFI chairman William McCarter who is retiring after 12 years at the helm.

Last year’s money helped fund business parks and investment initiatives in several counties including Leitrim, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo, Cavan as well as in the North.

The fund’s 2004 annual report will be presented to the British and Irish governments, the European Commission and the governments of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which are supporters of the fund.

Mr McCarter said: “We have helped transform social and economic conditions in some of the worst trouble spots in the North.

“The benefits range from a reduction in violence in flashpoint areas to encouraging investment in job creation in regions economically destitute for decades.”