EU Peace IV Programme

The PEACE Programme

The PEACE Programme is a distinctive programme part-funded by the European Union through its Structural Funds programme. The full title is the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland. To date, there have been three completed PEACE Programmes (I,II, and III), with PEACE IV currently being implemented. You can read more on the PEACE IV – Programme Overview page on the SEUPB website.

Our role as Accountable Department

This Department and the Department for Rural and Community Development in the Republic of Ireland, are the 'Accountable Departments' within their respective jurisdictions, for Priority 3.1; Shared Spaces – Capital Build. We ensure that Government Accounting NI and Departmental accounting procedures are strictly followed, as well as the relevant national and European regulations.  

This includes:

• the scrutiny of financial and management data provided by SEUPB
• the application of appropriate financial and management control to safeguard public funds
• processing applications for the advancement of monies to ensure that grants are released in accordance with conditions of grant

The Department has a close working relationship with SEUPB, one of the North/South Implementation Bodies established in 1999 and which carries out the role of Managing Authority. The Department is represented on the Programme Monitoring Committee, Steering Committee and Project Boards for individual projects.

Peace IV Programme funded projects

The PEACE IV Programme is a cross-border initiative, financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The 2014-2020 Programme represents an investment of €270m of which €77.1m is allocated to the Shared Spaces (Capital) element, for which DfC fulfils the Accountable Department role. The output target for the Shared Spaces – Capital element was to create eight new shared civic spaces which will be used by all sections of the community and have a transformative effect on the area.

Working with the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) through an open call for applications and a rigorous assessment process, approvals have been issued for over £65.3m (€77.1m) of funding for eight ‘shared space’ projects across Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of Ireland.

The successful projects were:

The Waterside Shared Village project, led by Derry City and Strabane District Council, has been awarded £6.8m to create a multi-faceted shared space facility within the Waterside area of Derry-Londonderry, incorporating a central community hub building surrounded by a sports complex.

The Waterside Shared Village project is the first of the 8 PEACE IV Shared Space projects to reach completion and was officially opened on 7 November 2022.

Mark O’Donnell, Deputy Secretary from the Department for Communities represented the Department at the event, pictured second from left.

Click on the link below to view a short (3 minute) video of the development of the Waterside Shared Village site.

• Waterside Shared Village

The Newforge Community Development Trust has been awarded £7.3m in funding towards total project costs of £8.6m to develop and transform a 15-acre site located beside the River Lagan at Newforge Lane in South Belfast. The project will provide a range of indoor and outdoor sporting facilities.

The Newforge Shared Space project is the second of the 8 approved PEACE IV Shared Space projects to reach completion and was officially opened on 6 March 2024.

In attendance at the celebration event (pictured L-R with three local school children) were Joe O'Brien, Minister of State, Ireland, Bobby Singleton, Assistant Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Gina McIntyre, Chief Executive of the Special EU Programmes Body and Minister Gordon Lyons MLA.

The Monaghan Peace Campus, based in Monaghan Town, has been awarded £12.3m towards total project costs of £18.4m to create a new shared community space comprising of a four-storey community building. The facility includes a youth space, cultural heritage centre, library and peace archive, shared community space, welcome zone and external events space.

The project is scheduled to complete in May 2024.

The photograph shows the Peace Campus building in December 2023.

The Connecting Pomeroy project, based in County Tyrone, has been awarded £7.5m grant towards total project costs of £7.9m to encourage greater levels of cross-community contact within the local area. It will create a ‘Forest School Retreat’, sports and community facilities across 5 key locations within Pomeroy.

The Shankill Shared Women’s Centre, led by Belfast City Council, has been awarded £7.8m to deliver a purpose-built facility, adjacent to the peace wall and interface at Lanark Way in North/West Belfast.  It will provide a new, shared space, providing cross community activities that will deliver ‘meaningful, purposeful and sustained’ contact between people from all sections of the community. Key elements will include a welcome space, multi-purpose hall, education & training rooms and an external play & courtyard.

The Courthouse Shared Space Creative Hub, led by Enterprise Causeway Ltd, has been awarded £6.65m to renovate and add a three-story extension to the Courthouse Building in Bushmills, which is currently derelict.

The key components of the capital build are a designerie, a messy studio, 17 workshop spaces, administration area, three shared meeting spaces and a garden area.

The Black Mountain Shared Space project, led by Belfast City Council, has been awarded £6.98m in funding towards total project costs of £7.36m. The project will create a shared space facility at the foot of the Black Mountain, Belfast, which will include: indoor leisure facilities, support outdoor recreation and create a dedicated community space.

The Riverine Community Park project, led by Donegal County Council, has been awarded £7.59m to create thirty acres of new cross-border community park space and infrastructure, designed to help bring people together.  It will encompass a number of unique elements all designed to encourage greater levels of positive cross-community contact.  These elements will include: a pavilion building; outdoor wetland and park space; a family fun space; cross-border pathways and greenways; and a newly constructed pedestrian footbridge that will symbolically connect the space across the River Foyle linking Lifford and Strabane.

Contact

Any queries should be directed to the European Branch (Urban Policy). As well as the responsibilities shown above this Unit also deals with issues arising from former EU Programmes such as Peace I, Urban I, Physical Social and Environmental Programme, Interreg IIA, Peace II, Urban II, Building Sustainable Prosperity and Interreg IIIA.