Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley has cast doubt on whether £300 million (€334 million) of UK government funding for peacebuilding in the North could be delivered if there is a no-deal Brexit.
The secretary of state said the proposed withdrawal agreement provided the “legal basis” to offer the financial support to reconciliation initiatives in a joint-funding model with the EU and Irish Government.
In the exit deal, the UK and EU have committed to maintaining, up to 2027, funding streams that were first established in the mid-1990s to support projects in Northern Ireland and the Border counties in the Republic.
Asked if the £300 million commitment announced by the government on Friday was dependent on the ratification of the withdrawal agreement, she said: “The legal basis upon which this can be delivered is the withdrawal agreement.
“It is set out in there and if we leave the European Union without a deal, we will have difficulties in finding a way that the EU and Irish government can spend money jointly with the UK Government in Northern Ireland on these important projects.”
‘Peace Plus’
The proposed “Peace Plus” scheme will succeed the current peace programme, which was designed to help promote economic and social progress in Northern Ireland and the Border region.
The peace programme has been running since 1995 with funding from the UK, Ireland and EU, and will end in 2020.
Last May, the EU set out its plan to make £109 million in funding to continue peace projects post-Brexit.
The overall funding commitments, if rolled out, will enable work to continue on the construction of almost £1.8 billion worth of projects in both Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Among the projects to have received funding to date has been the £14.5 million Peace Bridge in Derry, which was opened in 2011 and links Derry’s communities across the River Foyle.
Youth Action NI in Belfast is one of the organisations that has benefited under the existing scheme.
Regional project
The group used the money to set up the Youth Network for Peace, a regional project involving 10,000 young people in a range of social action projects on a cross-community and cross-border basis.
Ms Bradley visited Youth Action’s office in the city on Friday.
The Northern Ireland secretary did not go so far as to say the government would stop funding the projects in a no-deal scenario, but she stressed that it would be difficult to find a way to do it.
“It’s not about the quantum or the [level of] support, it’s about how you legally deliver it,” she said.
“As a government, to spend public money you need to have a legal basis to do so. The withdrawal agreement sets that out.
“If we leave without a deal the question will be how do you legally do these things and I am saying to people we have a way of doing it legally – it’s the withdrawal agreement.
“That’s why we should vote for the withdrawal agreement on Tuesday in the House of Commons.” - PA
