NEWS RELEASES

May 19, 2005 (5:35 p.m. EDT)

No. 90

CANADA CONTRIBUTES $2 MILLION

TO THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced that Canada will contribute $2 million to the International Fund for Ireland (IFI).

“I am very pleased to announce this four-year contribution from the Government of Canada’s Global Peace and Security Fund. These funds will help the IFI promote reconciliation and economic opportunities, especially for youth, in Northern Ireland,” said Minister Pettigrew. “We are proud to help the Northern Ireland Peace Process through the outstanding work of the Fund.”

“The IFI has made an important contribution to the positive climate in Northern Ireland. Not only did the better atmosphere foster the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement, relationships between nationalists and unionists at the community level have improved markedly through IFI projects,” said Pat O’Brien, Member of Parliament and Chair of the Canada-Ireland Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The new funding brings Canada’s total contributions to $7,667,000 since the IFI was established in 1986. The British and Irish governments approached Canada, along with other countries with large populations of Irish origin, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States, in order to establish the Fund.

As in the past, Canada will ask that its contribution be directed toward training programs for young people to enhance their employment prospects, and to foster mutual understanding and reconciliation between community groups from different traditions in Ireland. These youth-oriented programs include overseas placements and in 2003, 30 of the IFI's 51 placements were in Canada.

Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2005 Federal Budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

James Christoff

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

(613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office

Foreign Affairs Canada

(613) 995-1874

http://www.international.gc.ca