20 June 2020
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
David Stanton TD
Cork East Fine Gael TD and Minister of State at the Department of Justice & Equality, David Stanton, has announced that applications are now open to community groups nationwide who wish to apply for grant funding under the 2020 Communities Integration Fund.
The Communities Integration Fund will provide grant funding for local community projects that support the integration of migrants with total funding of €500,000 to be allocated under this year’s fund. Applications can now be made online to the Funds Administration Unit at the Department of Justice and Equality.
Launching this year’s call for applications, David Stanton said: “What happens at the local level is critical to successful integration, and I believe strongly in the power of communities when it comes to bringing about lasting change.
“In 2017, I launched the first Communities Integration Fund, which supports local initiatives by migrant and non-migrant groups to promote inclusion and most importantly, allow people to get to know each other. 124 organisations received funding in 2019 and projects are being funded which are explicitly intended to challenge racism at grass roots level.
“The 2020 call for applications for this fund is now live and I would encourage groups around the country who are working to promote inclusion in their locality to contact the Department and make an application”.
Applications must be submitted electronically before 1pm on Thursday, 16 July using the Communities Integration Fund 2020 application form. Community groups can access a guidance document and complete the online application form at https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/CIF2020.
The Department of Justice and Equality has also announced the membership of the new independent Anti-Racism Committee, to be chaired by Caroline Fennell, Professor of Law at University College Cork and Commissioner with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The Committee is being established to draw up a new Action Plan Against Racism for Ireland and will be comprised of people from diverse backgrounds with lived experience of racism. It is expected that the action plan will be recommended to Government within a year.
Speaking on the importance of the Action Plan Against Racism, David Stanton said: “The Government recognises the need for further action to combat racism. In giving this new Committee a mandate to develop a new Action Plan Against Racism for recommendation to the Government, we are building on the work we have done over the past three years under both the Migrant Integration Strategy and the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy. Both these strategies set out a vision for an inclusive Ireland, where everyone has the opportunity to participate fully and diversity is valued”.
