The Reconciliation Fund awards grants to organisations working to build better relations within and between traditions in Northern Ireland, between North and South, and between Ireland and Britain. From 2023, the Reconciliation Fund will move to operating one annual funding round for 12-month grants. A Strategic Partnerships stream for 3-year funding was also launched in summer 2021.
2024 Funding Round (for 12-month funding)
The 2024 Annual Funding Round is now closed for applications. Decisions will be issued to applicants in the summertime.
Reconciliation Fund Outreach Workshops 2024
The Reconciliation Fund hosted a series of Outreach Workshops in January and February 2024. Thank you to all those who attended. The next series of workshops will be scheduled in early 2025, and details will be posted here closer to the time.
Following extensive engagement with our funding partners and others working in the field of peace and reconciliation, a new Reconciliation Fund Strategy was approved by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in order to guide the work of the Reconciliation Fund during the period 2021-2024. The new strategy came into effect on 15 March 2021.
The strategy outlines an updated set of funding priorities and criteria for the Reconciliation Fund, to ensure that the Fund supports our vision of a reconciled Ireland and remains relevant, effective, and efficient over the coming years. A summary of these funding priorities and criteria can be found in 'Am I Eligible?' below. Potential applicants should also consult the new Strategy document itself.
As well as setting out overarching themes and priority areas, the new Strategy outlines how the Reconciliation Fund can provide, in addition to direct project funding, Core Operational and Capital funding to support the important work of peace and reconciliation.
The new Strategy provided for the expansion of the Strategic Partnership multi-annual funding stream that had been piloted under the Reconciliation Fund’s previous Strategy. Under the new funding stream, around 15-30 organisations will be eligible to become a Strategic Partner of the Fund, with a commitment to funding over a 3-year period, allowing them to develop a more strategic long term approach to planning their work. The first call for applications for Strategic Partnership under this new scheme was made during May-June 2021.
We give funding to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community groups, and voluntary organisations to support reconciliation and to create better understanding between people and traditions on the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain.
All applications to the Reconciliation Fund are assessed using the criteria laid out in the Reconciliation Fund’s Strategy 2021-2024. It is important when considering your eligibility for the fund that you look at this document and reflect on whether your project meets the aims laid out in it. The Reconciliation Fund supports many unique, diverse and important projects which all have a unifying thread – they all aim to play a part in creating a better relationship and understanding between traditions on the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain. The Reconciliation Fund can support many aspects of proposed projects, including core and capital costs (see further information under 'How to Apply').
Background of the Reconciliation Fund
The Reconciliation Fund has been running since 1982, and was increased significantly in 1998, following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Department of Foreign Affairs operated an Anti-Sectarianism Fund in addition to the Reconciliation Fund in the period 2008-2014. Since 2014, in accordance with the Reconciliation Fund Strategy, the two funds have been merged into a single Reconciliation Fund. Anti-sectarianism is now mainstreamed throughout the entire programme and is one of a number of priority areas to be addressed by the Fund.
The last number of years has seen an increased commitment by the Government to supporting the Reconciliation Fund. In May 2018, it was announced that the annual budget for the Reconciliation Fund would be increased from €2.7 million to €3.7 million, and as part of its commitments set out under Annex B of the January 2020 “New Decade, New Approach” agreement, the Government renewed its commitment to maintaining this increased level of funding. Since then, reflecting in particular the wide-ranging implications of Brexit and the impact of Covid-19 on community and voluntary sector organisations working in peacebuilding, the Government has committed to further increasing the Reconciliation Fund’s budget.
In line with our new Strategy for 2021-2024 , you will find below guidance on the eligibility criteria which we will apply to applications for Reconciliation Fund support in our annual funding rounds (which will accept applications for 12-month funding).
Eligibility - Our Funding Priorities:
The following sets out our funding priorities, in line with our new Reconciliation Fund Strategy:
Thematic Pillars
Our funding priorities continue to be rooted in two key overarching thematic pillars – repairing and building. For 2021-2024, the Reconciliation Fund will focus its support on reconciliation and peacebuilding work that seeks to:
- Repair those issues which lead to division, conflict, and barriers to a deeply reconciled and peaceful society;
and/or
- Build a strong civil society that encompasses all communities, through the continued implementation of the Agreements and promoting a rights-based society, political stability and respect for all.
Priority areas
Applications should be in line with one or both of these overarching pillars, while also focusing on one or more of the Reconciliation Fund’s priority themes/activities. Requests for funding support should therefore involve projects which support at least one of the following priority areas:
*Through dialogue or other means, seek to build understanding between peoples and traditions, whether within Northern Ireland, on a North-South basis, or on a British-Irish basis.
- Promote inter-community links and reduce segregation in Northern Ireland, including in the areas of integrated education and housing, and the use of shared community spaces.
- Build sustainable North-South links through the development of relationships and connections.
- Develop and deepen relations between Ireland and Britain.
- Seek participation in the most hard-to-reach and marginalised communities (in terms of economic and social deprivation), or those not normally involved in reconciliation and peace-building work, in line with the Government’s commitments made at the time of the NDNA Agreement.
- Seek to address the legacy of violence during the Troubles.
- Specifically target sectarianism, and which are aimed at eliminating sectarianism from society.
- Help to tackle paramilitarism and support the transitioning of members of paramilitary groups to peaceful, democratic activities.
- Employ a transgenerational approach, helping a younger generation to be more aware of the recent past and to break the cycles which are barriers to long term reconciliation.
- Develop the role of women in peace-building and civic and political life, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and which build their capacity to take their rightful place as leaders in society.
- Educate and illuminate the events of the past, and in particular the events of the Decade of Centenaries, in order to deepen understanding and promote respect and tolerance between different groups and traditions.
- Explore issues around identity (including language and other cultural traditions) in ways that promote understanding, tolerance and inclusivity, or help to recognise the common aspects of traditions and identities shared by different groups.
- Involve academic research likely to significantly promote mutual understanding, peace and reconciliation, including in the context of the Government’s commitment at the time of the NDNA Agreement to commission research on the challenges faced by border communities (with a particular focus on minority communities in border counties).
- Empower diverse, underrepresented or new voices to articulate their views on issues relating to reconciliation.
- Assist communities from different traditions in trying to build a shared vision of the future.
Other factors guiding consideration of applications
In addition to assessing whether applications contribute under the thematic pillars and key priority/activity areas outlined above, we will be guided by a number of other factors in considering funding applications:
General factors:
General factors which will be used in assessing applications will include:
- Geographical location of activity, with the aim of ensuring an appropriate spread of funding;
- Value for money of the project;
- The organisation’s financial management capacity, governance arrangements and sustainability;
- The funding environment for the particular sector.
Methodology:
The Reconciliation Fund welcomes applications that propose new and innovative approaches, as well as those that use methods rooted in current practice. We also welcome applications that use any of a wide number of approaches to bring people from different backgrounds together (e.g. arts, culture, sports, skills development, dialogue) exploring how society can address issues of common concern to all.
In the case of more sectorally based projects (sports, community services, skills development e.g. for employability etc.), in terms of eligibility for funding, it is not sufficient to have groups come together on a cross-community and/or cross border basis. There must be a project component that allows for facilitated focus on broader issues that are relevant to reconciliation. The intention would be to encourage participants to engage with each other and listen to each other’s perspectives/narratives, to stimulate reflection and discussion, to promote understanding and tolerance and ultimately to help develop links and relationships.
For example, in the case of sports related applications, while it would have merit in its own right to bring groups together to receive coaching and/or play matches/tournaments, there would need to be a further dimension to the project as outlined above. One possible approach would be to incorporate into the project facilitated sessions that would explore any/all of the following: i) issues of culture/identity (including those associated with particular sports), ii) experiences of sectarianism, iii) participants’ levels of practical knowledge/understanding of lived experiences of those from other traditions etc.
Support for new generations of practitioners:
We recognise that Reconciliation cannot be achieved without a sufficient cohort of dedicated well-trained practitioners who can carry on into the future the vital work of many who have dedicated themselves to peace and reconciliation since the very difficult years prior to the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
In order to support the emergence of a new generation of people working to build peace and reconciliation, we will therefore consider applications that seek to provide young adults working in the sector with the skills and knowledge which will help them to play an active role in that work.
Capacity-building for organisations:
We recognise that there is a wide spectrum of groups of different sizes and capacities working in reconciliation. The Reconciliation Fund is open to supporting organisations to build up their own capacity where the organisation can show an identified need while also demonstrating that it has strong potential to carry out useful work in line with our priorities.
Potential for transmission of learning:
The potential for projects to produce learning which is useful both to project organisers themselves and to others working in the sector is important. Both the Reconciliation Fund and the organisations we support have a role to play in ensuring that learning from their projects is shared, so we particularly welcome funding proposals which include structured plans for achieving this.
General guidance
The Reconciliation Fund awards grants to organisations working to build better relations within and between traditions in Northern Ireland, between North and South, and between Ireland and Britain. Prospective applicants are advised to study the Reconciliation Fund Strategy 2021-2024 and the previous 'Am I Eligible' section on this webpage to ensure that their funding proposals are aligned with the criteria and key priorities of the Fund.
Grants awarded by the Reconciliation Fund are made on a once-off basis to support the activities outlined in a given application, but organisations may apply for funding in successive years or funding rounds. This may include work programmes that expand or further develop an earlier project already carried out by the organisation.
One annual funding round (for 12-month funding) is held every year in the springtime.
In 2021, we also launched a new Strategic Partnerships application process, under which previous recipients of Reconciliation Fund support are eligible to be awarded a commitment to 3-year grant funding. More information is available on the dedicated Strategic Partnerships tab on this webpage.
Annual Funding Round (for 12-month funding) - timing
Opening and closing dates and times for annual funding rounds will be posted on the Reconciliation Fund webpage in advance. The link to the online application system will be made available on this page in advance of the opening date.
NOTE: Any application submitted before the opening time of 11.00am on the opening day of an annual funding round will be regarded as invalid and will not be accepted.
What I can apply for
In the annual funding round, grants are awarded for a 12-month period and can cover the direct cost of Project activities, Core Operational costs, or Capital costs.
Support for Project activities can cover a range of costs e.g. venue hire, catering, preparation of resources/materials, facilitation fees, travel costs for participants, etc.
Applications for project funding may also include a request for support for Core Operational costs, such as salaries and overheads, and Capital costs, where they are directly attributable to the project or programme for which funding is sought e.g. where salary costs are incurred for the purpose of managing/coordinating/administering the project or rent/heat/light/phone charges etc. are incurred in order to deliver it.
Salary Costs: if you are applying for funding to cover salary costs, please note a Reconciliation Fund grant cannot be used towards the costs of private occupational pension schemes. Costs incurred for contributions towards social insurance payments may be included e.g. National Insurance or PRSI.
Please ensure you include a breakdown of salary, i.e. base salary and social insurance contributions, when applying for funding from the Reconciliation Fund.
We will also accept stand-alone applications for either Core Operational or Capital costs where they are not directly attributable to a particular project. In those cases, it should be clearly demonstrated in the application form that a primary focus of the organisation’s work (and of the costs in question) is to further the work of peacebuilding and reconciliation in line with the objectives of the Reconciliation Fund Strategy.
We do not generally give grants for events/activities that have already taken place, or for travel off the island of Ireland. However, in certain circumstances, we will consider supporting the cost of travel to and from Britain, where such travel is deemed essential for the successful implementation of the project.
In certain circumstances, if an application for funding is deemed to be of a significant amount, additional budget detail may be required. The Reconciliation Fund Team will be in touch with you after the funding round closes to provide instruction if this is the case.
Online application system
For those considering applying in an annual funding round, a user guide will be available to assist with using our online application system. This guide includes (in its appendix) details of the questions which applicants are required to complete during the registration and application stages of the process.
Reconciliation Fund Online Grant Portal User Guide
User Guide for Reconciliation Fund Online Grant Applications
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Applicants are recommended to consult the user guide before starting to use the online system and to have it to hand as they complete the online application process, step by step.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) is also available to assist applicants.
If you have any questions about the online applications process, please consult the user guide and the Frequently Asked Questions documents first. If they do not provide an answer, please feel free to contact a member of our team by email through the link at the bottom of this page or by calling the Department of Foreign Affairs switchboard on 00353 (1) 4082000 and asking for Reconciliation Section in the IUKA Division.
Additional Documentation required with online applications
Please note that certain documents must be uploaded along with the online application, as follows:
Applicant organisation's Most Recent Annual Accounts
All applicants are required to provide a copy of their organisation’s most recent annual final accounts/financial statements, or (if your organisation is newly formed), a declaration of no income/expenditure signed by the Treasurer and another Board or Committee member (on headed official paper if available), along with evidence of a bank account, e.g. copies of a bank statement.
Tax Clearance Certificate for the organisation
If you are applying for a grant of €10,000 or more (or if your funding request, combined with any Reconciliation Fund grants already approved for your organisation within the current calendar year, amount to €10,000 or more) you are required to provide a valid Tax Clearance Certificate. A Tax Clearance Certificate is issued by the Irish Revenue Commissioners and is required to process a payment from any Irish Government Department, regardless of where in the world the payee is located. Obtaining a resident or non-resident tax clearance certificate is a very straightforward process which can be completed by email. Details on how to obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate can be found online through the Revenue Commissioners’ website: http://www.revenue.ie/en/business/running/tax-clearance.html. The Revenue Commissioners will issue a tax clearance certificate, and it is this certificate which should be submitted with your online funding application.
Application Check List
Before beginning your application to the Reconciliation Fund, it is important to check that you have the following (where applicable) to hand:
- The organisation’s most recent annual accounts/financial statements (for further information, see above).
- If you are applying for a grant of €10,000 or more, a Tax clearance certificate (for further information see above).
- The names and job titles of members of the organisation’s board.
- Details in relation to your organisation – its aims, objectives, governance arrangements, the background of those who participate in and avail of its programmes, financial information including a strategy for financial sustainability.
- A well laid out and detailed project plan that meets the aims set out in the Reconciliation Fund Strategy document and explicitly states how it will fulfil these aims.
- A detailed Project Budget that accounts for all money requested in the application, corresponds with the details laid out in the Project Activities section of the application and demonstrates clearly how and on what that money would be spent. If the layout of the Project Budget tab on the online system does not allow you to submit a sufficiently detailed breakdown of the budget, you can use the ‘Attachments’ tab of the system to upload a more detailed supplementary table/spreadsheet.
Reports
You must submit a report to us once the project has been completed or within 12 months of the date of receipt of the grant (whichever is the earlier date).
Reports should be submitted by email directly to the Reconciliation Fund team through your regular point of contact or via reconciliation@dfa.ie .
You should use our reporting template when preparing reports. Please save a copy of this file to your computer.
If you have trouble accessing or downloading this report template, please contact the team at reconciliation@dfa.ie and we can send you a Word Document version.
Financial Accounts
You are required to submit along with the final project report, the annual final accounts for the organisation. The relevant accounts are those for the financial year in which you received payment of the grant from the Reconcilation Fund. Our grant must be clearly listed as a separate entry in those accounts, labelled as: Department of Foreign Affairs– Reconciliation Fund.
If the grant is over €12,500, the organisation’s accounts must be externally audited.
Failure to submit reports and accounts in a timely manner may impede your organisation’s ability to receive future support from the Reconciliation Fund.
Download the full list of grants awarded in Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund 2022 and Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund 2022.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2021 under Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund 2021 and Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund 2021.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2020 under Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund 2020 and Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund 2020.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2019 under Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund 2019 and Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund 2019.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2018 under Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund 2018 and Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund 2018.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2017 under Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund and under Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2016 under Tranche 1 of the Reconciliation Fund and Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund.
Download the full list of grants awarded in 2015 under Tranche 1 and under the Strategic Partnership scheme of the Reconciliation Fund , and under Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund.
Download lists of the grants awarded in 2014 under Tranche 1 of both the Reconciliation Fund and Anti-Sectarianism Fund, and under Tranche 2 of the Reconciliation Fund.
Download lists of the grants awarded under the Reconciliation Fund and Anti-Sectarianism Fund in 2013.
Download lists of the grants awarded under the Reconciliation Fund and Anti-Sectarianism Fund in 2012.
In May 2021, the Reconciliation Fund launched a new Strategic Partnerships scheme.
This scheme has provided recent Reconciliation Fund partners with an opportunity to apply for multi-year funding, and reflects the Fund’s commitment, set out in the Reconciliation Fund Strategy for 2021-2024, to partner with organisations seeking to develop a more strategic long term approach to reconciliation work.
The scheme closed to applications in June 2021. The Reconciliation Fund team then undertook an initial shortlisting of applications, followed by a full process of appraisal. Final decisions under the scheme were made in February 2022 and have been communicated to applicant organisations.
It is envisaged that there will be a further call for new applications for Strategic Partnership at a later stage during the lifetime of the current Reconciliation Fund Strategy 2021-24. Further information on that will be posted to this webpage at the relevant time.
The Reconciliation Fund awards grants to organisations working to build better relations within and between traditions in Northern Ireland, between North and South, and between Ireland and Britain. Applicants are advised to study the Reconciliation Fund Strategy 2021-2024 to ensure that their funding proposals are aligned with the criteria and key priorities of the Fund.
Our funding priorities continue to be rooted in two key overarching thematic pillars – repairing and building. For 2021-2024, the Reconciliation Fund will focus its support on reconciliation and peacebuilding work that seeks to:
- Repair those issues which lead to division, conflict, and barriers to a deeply reconciled and peaceful society;
and/or
- Build a strong civil society that encompasses all communities, through the continued implementation of the Agreements and promoting a rights-based society, political stability and respect for all.
The following eligibility criteria must be met under the Strategic Partnership scheme:
- The proposed programme should correspond closely to the priority themes set out in the Reconciliation Fund Strategy 2021 -2024.
- Applicants should have been a recipient of a Reconciliation Fund grant in the period since 1 January 2018.
Successful applications under the Strategic Partnerships scheme will also need to:
- Demonstrate clear strategic thinking, including a robust analysis of the context and logic of the intervention, a detailed plan of activity across the entire three year period of the grant, and outline the programme’s potential to effect lasting change.
- Provide evidence that the applicant has sufficiently robust financial management, governance, audit and reporting systems in place to monitor and report on funding provided.
- Outline the cost effectiveness of the proposed programme.
Consideration may also be given to the geographic spread of programming, and the potential for programmes to generate useful learning that could inform advocacy on reconciliation issues or further programming.
Grants made under the Strategic Partnerships scheme will be approved in principle for a period of up to three years. The grant will be disbursed in annual payments following the provision of satisfactory interim reporting from organisations.
Funding under the Strategic Partnerships scheme is available to cover both direct project activities as well as core operational costs, such as salaries and overheads.
Grants under the Strategic Partnerships scheme are not envisaged to finance large-scale capital expenditure. However, a modest contribution to capital costs may be considered where these costs are attributable to the delivery of a wider multi-year programme (e.g. for the development of a shared space in which cross community and/or cross border peacebuilding and reconciliation work will take place under a developed plan/strategy).
Strong frameworks for measuring results and evaluating the impact of programmes should be a feature of a strategic partnerships application. To assist partner organisations in achieving this, the Fund will allow applicants to include costs related to programme monitoring and evaluation within their grant applications.
The Reconciliation Fund does not generally give grants for events/activities that have already taken place, and no funding will be provided under the Strategic Partnerships scheme for activities that have already taken place. Applications should be based on a three-year project commencement date of no earlier than the 1st January 2022 (with a final start date to be agreed with successful applicants when grant is being awarded).
We will consider providing funding for travel off the island of Ireland, in certain limited circumstances. Generally, this will be confined to supporting the cost of travel to and from Britain, where such travel is deemed essential for the successful implementation of the project.
This scheme was open for applications in May-June 2021 but is now closed.
It is envisaged that it will open again for new applications at a later stage during the lifetime of the current Reconciliation Fund Strategy 2021-24. Further information on that will be posted to this webpage at the relevant time.
Applications were accepted for the scheme until the closing date of 11th June 2021. The scheme is now closed to new applications.
Given the volume of applications received, an initial shortlisting of applications is underway. We would aim to communicate the outcome of the shortlisting process to applicants during the month of September 2021.
A second stage of appraisal will follow for the shortlisted applications and it is hoped that final decisions on those applications will be made and communicated before the end of 2021.
The initial grant payments to successful Strategic Partnership applicants are likely to be made in the period from December 2021 to summer 2022. In deciding exactly when those initial payments are to be made, we will take into account the status of any existing Reconciliation Fund grants which have not been spent in full and for which the organisation still has projects to complete.
Important Notice
We appreciate that organisations who would normally have intended to apply for 12-month funding in our regular autumn 2021 round may be uncertain about how to proceed while they await news on the status of their existing applications under our Strategic Partnerships process. We will provide separate advice to those organisations directly by email before the autumn round opens on 9 September.
Organisations Designated as Strategic Partners, 2022 – 2025
| Organisation | Grant Awarded Over 3 Years - € |
| Bardic Educational Arts and Media | €48,000.00 |
| British-Irish Association | €90,000.00 |
| Building Communities Resource Centre | €76,700.00 |
| Centre for Cross Border Studies | €270,297.00 |
| Co-operation Ireland | €546,671.00 |
| Creggan Enterprises Ltd | €176,914.00 |
| CRIS - Community Relations in Schools | €297,116.00 |
| Féile an Phobail | €157,704.00 |
| Fighting Words Northern Ireland | €229,352.00 |
| Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation | €1,500,000.00 |
| Holywell Trust | €190,713.00 |
| John and Pat Hume Foundation | €180,000.00 |
| Northern Ireland's Women's European Platform | €292,404.00 |
| PeacePlayers International - Northern Ireland (PPI-NI) | €105,000.00 |
| Schomberg Society Kilkeel Limited | €120,000.00 |
| Shankill Women's Centre | €275,628.00 |
| The Corrymeela Community | €450,000.00 |
| The Integrated Education Fund | €333,180.00 |
| The Junction Community Relations and Peace Building Initiative | €73,459.00 |
| TIDES Training and Consultancy | €144,944.00 |
| Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation | €168,687.00 |
| Training for Women Network Ltd | €97,401.00 |
| YouthAction Northern Ireland | €281,880.00 |
Published March 2022
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