{"id":304848,"date":"2025-07-30T20:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T20:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/304848\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T20:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T20:51:10","slug":"uk-government-urged-to-reconsider-decision-to-cut-cash-for-peace-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/304848\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government urged to reconsider decision to cut cash for peace fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 huxBsk\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/uk-government\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UK Government<\/a> has been urged to reconsider its decision to cut its backing for a significant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/irish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Irish<\/a> peace fund.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/government\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Government<\/a> confirmed it had decided not to continue with the \u00a31 million contribution to the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) in 2024-25, citing a \u201cvery challenging fiscal position\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The IFI was originally set up by the UK and Irish governments as an independent international organisation in 1986.<\/p>\n<p>It delivers a range of peace and reconciliation initiatives across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/northern-ireland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northern Ireland<\/a> and Irish border counties, including supporting communities to work towards removal of the remaining peace walls.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/sinn-fein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sinn Fein<\/a> North Belfast MP John Finucane said he is concerned about the move, and said he will raise it directly with Secretary of State Hilary Benn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is extremely concerning that the British Government is to cut funding for IFI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIFI was established to promote peace, reconciliation and a better future for all communities across Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeace is hard-won and hard-fought. It can never be taken for granted, and crucial funds like this must continue to be supported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe British Government should be increasing funding in light of the withdrawal of US support, not imposing further hardship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will be writing to British Secretary of State Hilary Benn, calling for his Government to reverse this decision and ensure IFI can continue its vital grassroots-led programmes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding, a UK Government spokesperson said: \u201cThis Government inherited a very challenging fiscal position, and needed to take difficult but necessary decisions to place the public finances on a sustainable footing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a result, the Government has decided not to continue with the \u00a31 million contribution to the International Fund for Ireland in 2024-25.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Government remains supportive of the IFI\u2019s aims of promoting peace and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-304848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114944166068315139","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}