Donegal is set to benefit from an announcement today of a $4 million US Government boost for the International Fund for Ireland (IFI).
The US Ambassador to Ireland, Edward S Walsh, said the announcement reaffirms America’s longstanding, bipartisan commitment to ‘strengthening peace, stability, and prosperity’ across the island. Donegal has benefited to the tune of millions of euro in IFI grants in recent decades.
Ambassador Walsh was speaking during a recent visit to the border region where he met with representatives of IFI-supported projects.
“The progress we’ve seen in Northern Ireland over the past decades is remarkable,” he said.
“Programmes supported by the International Fund for Ireland demonstrate how sustained commitment to peace and reconciliation can deliver real and lasting change in people’s lives. By supporting stability, we’re also safeguarding the nearly $2 billion investment by American companies in Northern Ireland and the wider region, while creating new opportunities for future U.S. business growth.”
IFI Chairperson Shona McCarthy said the IFI wishes to extend their gratitude to the United States for its continued and longstanding commitment to peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.
“This funding announcement of $4 million, along with a €4 million contribution for 2026 from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, comes at a pivotal moment as we prepare to launch our next phase of peacebuilding with a new strategy for 2026-2030,” she said.
The United States said it promotes the IFI’s work to advance the sustainability of peace building at the community level, for example, by enabling the construction of a new cross-community shared space facility on a site that was surrounded by peace barriers and funding employment skills training for vulnerable youth so they may contribute to the region’s economic development and stability.