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Community groups from across Northern Ireland have outlined how the development of new programmes under the Communities in Transition project has helped address issues resulting from paramilitary violence and coercive control across eight areas. 

The Executive Office, in partnership with Co-operation Ireland and Communities in Transition (CIT) Delivery Partners showcased the work undertaken by the CIT initiative at an event held today (Wednesday March 20) in Corr’s Corner Hotel, Newtownabbey, attended by First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

The event highlighted the achievements, insights, and innovations born from the CIT initiative, providing invaluable resources and an opportunity to shape future community transformation efforts. 

Aimed at fostering resilience, capacity, and confidence within communities plagued by the effects of paramilitarism and associated criminal activities, the CIT programme marks a pivotal moment.  

Spanning across eight target areas, the CIT project has championed a diverse range of endeavours from health and well-being to community safety, and cultural development. This adaptive approach has allowed for the creation and delivery of tailored initiatives meeting the unique needs of each community.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “The investment of over £19million across the eight CIT areas originally identified, has enabled countless examples of good practice and delivery throughout the programme.

“Thank you all for the dedication in what is a challenging environment. We need to continue to give sufficient attention and focus to reducing the space that paramilitarism can exploit in communities.

“This means continuing to support community led activity to develop resilience and working in partnership across Government to tackle the wider socio-economic issues such as poverty, health inequalities and educational under-achievement.”

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: “The tireless work being done across the eight CIT areas and beyond is helping transform, renew and reshape communities impacted by paramilitarism and criminality.

“Real differences are being made to people’s lives, communities are safer, more resilient, and they are more peaceful places to live.

“I particularly welcome the meaningful impact on those young people growing up in a post-conflict society. CIT has helped many of them make better choices and be more positively involved in their communities.”

Ian Jeffers, the recently appointed CEO of Co-operation Ireland said: “We all recognise the challenges that many of our communities continue to face and today we have seen that with community leadership, active partnerships and investment we can make significant progress in supporting communities move toward a positive, peaceful future.”

In 2024 we are marking Co-operation Ireland’s 45th anniversary by exploring our history through 45 items.

#45in45

Item 10: Proclamation by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg marking March 18 2004 ‘Co-operation Ireland Day’.

In the vibrant tapestry of New York City, St. Patrick’s Day is more than just a celebration; it’s a cultural cornerstone – an event that sees the sizable Diaspora based in the Empire State turn out to celebrate every March 17.

Back in 2004, Co-operation Ireland had a strong representation in the city, but it was March 18 that was the focus for staff and board members.

Because Team CI had a date in City Hall – to see then Mayor Michael Bloomberg declare that date to be ‘Co-operation Ireland Day’ in the city. 

In Co-operation Ireland’s long history of peace building, the role played by our USA Board and supporters is hard to underestimate so having a day named after us in such an iconic city was of huge significance.

Through our USA Chairman Jim Clerkin, we continue to be supported in our work from the other side of the Atlantic, and we look forward to many more years of harnessing the strength of the Diaspora in our journey towards reconciliation.

Below, some of the words included on the proclamation pictured continue to resonate, 20 years on.

“Now, therefore, I, Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, in recognition of the contributions of this organization to peace in Ireland, as well as respect between people around the world, do hereby proclaim Thursday, March 18th 2004, in the City of New York as: ‘Co-operation Ireland Day’.

In 2024 we are marking Co-operation Ireland’s 45th anniversary by exploring our history through 45 items.

#45in45

Item 9: Ireland vs Barbarians 1996 Peace International programme

As the 2024 Six Nations draws to a close we look back at a very special game held almost 30 years ago in Lansdowne Road and featuring some of the most iconic names to ever have played with the oval ball for which Co-operation North/Co-operation Ireland were the charity sponsor.

In 1996 the peace process was finding it’s feet and as the atmosphere in Ireland began to lift, Trevor Ringland – who now sits on Co-operation Ireland’s board – and Hugo MacNeill, both former Irish internationals, helped to organise an Ireland vs Barbarians game at the home of Irish Rugby in Dublin.

In the words of then Barbarians Club President Mickey Steele-Bodger, “The idea of such an event was first dreamed up by Hugo and Trevor who saw it as a way of creating an opportunity for all those in Ireland who support rugby to show, in a purposefully non political way, their hope and desire for Peace.”

The game was a barn burner – the Barbarians, who included world famous stars such as David Campese, Phillipe Sella of France, Francois Pienaar of South Africa and England’s Rory Underwood, finished with 70 points to Ireland’s score of 50.

More information on the momentous day can be found via the World Rugby Museum here.

Lending his support to the event on the day was leading businessman and former Irish international Tony O’Reilly, who branded the event a “tremendous statement of the overwhelming desire in Ireland and beyond for peace in our country”.

In 2024 we are marking Co-operation Ireland’s 45th anniversary by exploring our history through 45 items.

#45in45

Item 8: Women’s Leadership Programme Certificate

Co-operation Ireland has a long track record through our programmes of working to empower women and on this International Women’s Day, we look at the Women’s Leadership Programme and how it is having a valuable impact across the island.

The programme developed from Co-operation Ireland’s All-Island Local Authority Forum which successfully delivered it firstly as a pilot programme. 

Women in Leadership is a bespoke development programme aimed at female officers working in local government in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

It was developed with the following core aims.

  • To build confidence among future female leaders within the sector by developing effective leadership styles and resilience in the workplace
  • To establish a supportive all-island local government sectoral learning community
  • To assist the local government sector to foster and develop diverse leadership teams for the future across all levels of local authorities.

Designed in conjunction with female Chief Executives and Directors of local authorities, the programme focuses on the specific issues faced by female leaders within this sector, assisting them in the development of leadership capability which is key to the women taking part in this training. 

Feedback from the programme has been very positive and through word-of-mouth applications have doubled since the programme’s foundation. In 2023 we welcomed 129 participants.

In 2024 we are marking Co-operation Ireland’s 45th anniversary by exploring our history through 45 items.

#45in45

Item 7: Peter Sheridan’s Cup and Saucer

In his 15 years as CEO Peter Sheridan left an indelible mark on Co-operation Ireland. A former career policeman, he had come to the charity in 2008 to embark on a new role of fostering peace and reconciliation.

This cup and saucer ended up playing a large role in his tenure. Never a man for a mug of tea, when visitors (some expected, many not) arrived in CI’s offices, the fine china came out and Peter sat down for a chat.

It’s over this cup and saucer the first plans for the historic handshake between former deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Her Late Majesty the Queen in 2012 at a Co-operation Ireland event in The Lyric Theatre were hatched.

And that is just one of the public displays of reconciliation. If the delft could talk, what a story it would tell!

The truth is relationships are like a china cups, costly and rare, and once broken cannot be mended. We saw lots of that and the essence of CIs work is to look after the china!

Peter has now moved on to work with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), with former Victims Commissioner Ian Jeffers taking over the CEO role with Co-operation Ireland.

And although he took the cup and saucer with him, it remains a key part of the history of CI.

In 2024 we are marking Co-operation Ireland’s 45th anniversary by exploring our history through 45 items.

#45in45

Item 6: The Yale University Mug

As we continue to mark our 45th anniversary in 2024 by exploring our history through 45 meaningful items, Item Number Six is The Yale University Mug.

This well-used mug came to Co-operation Ireland through a ground-breaking programme the charity ran along with the Ivy League university aimed at helping gifted students from Derry/Londonderry who found financially difficult to make the journey to the United States to study at the world class education establishment.

Co-operation Ireland was delighted to welcome Keith Light, Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions, to a number of events across Northern Ireland for the duration of the programme.

It was thanks to the generosity of businesses like Heron Brothers construction that they programme was able to operate.

Among those to take advantage was Creggan student Aidan Donaghey, who spoke at the time about how much the opportunity to travel to study in Yale meant to him.

Building Bridges has now come to an end but Co-operation Ireland continues to have excellent relationships with the education sector.

The staff and volunteers of Co-operation Ireland would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the family of our Vice Chairman John Bruton, who will be laid to rest tomorrow in Dunboyne, County Meath.

The former Taoiseach joined the board of Co-operation Ireland in 2010 as Vice Chairman, a role in which he served until his death on Tuesday (February 6).

John brought a wealth of experience to the charity, having distinguished himself as a globally significant politician and key part of the peace process.

His desire to listen to all perspectives was central to his commitment to peace and reconciliation and his knowledge and judgement was of great assistance to the charity throughout his tenure.

Co-operation Ireland Chairman Sir Julian King said, “John will be sorely missed. He made an enormous contribution to the work of Co-operation Ireland, and in many ways epitomised our values. We shall miss his wisdom, but we’ll carry on his work.”

As we continue to mark our 45th anniversary In 2024 by exploring our history through 45 meaningful items, the latest item is the Welcome Organisation Key Ring.

This key ring was presented to 20 young people on the Co-operation Ireland Future Leaders Programme who braved the elements on Friday evening in Belfast and Cork (February 2) to raise aware of homelessness.

Co-operation Ireland teamed up with Lagmore Youth Club for the event organised as part of their Future Leaders Social Action module. Before climbing into their sleeping bags the participants heard from Kieran Hughes from The Welcome Organisation on the impact homelessness has on society and the work they do to support people who find themselves without shelter or accommodation.

In the run up to the event the young people had raised money and collected clothes donations which were presented to Kieran on the night.

The young people are all participants in the Co-operation Ireland Future Leaders Programme, an all-island programme designed to nurture potential by providing training and accredited qualifications to those taking part.

Kieran Hughes from The Welcome Organisation said; “Homelessness is on the rise across Ireland – in Northern Ireland alone, 16,264 households presented as homeless to the Housing Executive between October 2022 to September 2023 – an increase of 4.4 per cent on the same period the year before.

“That is why it is so important to raise awareness of the homelessness crisis. Initiatives like this social action project by Co-operation Ireland’s Future Leaders programme do exactly that.

“We were delighted to be invited to the sleepout to speak to the young people about homelessness in Northern Ireland and about the work of The Welcome Organisation.

“We’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who took part. The food, clothes and toiletries collected will be distributed directly to people affected by homelessness across our services. These include our Drop-in Centre, Street Outreach service, Annsgate and Catherine House female accommodation services and our Floating Support service.”

Colm Fanning from Lagmore Youth Project Ireland said; “Lagmore Youth Project are delighted to have this opportunity to work alongside Co-operation Ireland is supporting the learning of our young people in social justice issues.

“Over the course of the past year out young people have greatly benefitted from the development opportunities through their involvement in the CI Future Leaders programming with young people across Ireland.

“This overnight not only provided the opportunity to hear and learn the issues affecting our homeless population for the Future Leaders but our wider youth club and the wider “Lagmore and Colin area and we were delighted to have the Welcome Organisation in to hear of their fantastic work and have our young people raise vital funds to support their continued work with the homeless.”

Ian Jeffers, Co-operation Ireland CEO said; “I am immensely proud of our Co-operation Ireland Future Leaders who planned and carried out the event from start to finish. The social action part of the programme is critical to the progress of the participants and the sleep out shows that they are engaged with societal issues such as homelessness.”

This vase was presented to Co-operation Ireland by Belfast City Council to mark the tenth anniversary of Ireland’s largest community awards – Pride of Place.

Since they were established by former Meath County Council Chief Executive Tom Dowling, Co-operation Ireland has delivered the annual event which for the last ten years has been sponsored by IPB Insurance.

Created to promote and celebrate the best in community development, the awards recognise the selfless efforts of people in making their local neighbourhoods better places to live, work and socialise.

Last year’s event, the 31st, was hosted by Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council who picked up the baton from Dublin City Council who were the host for the 30th anniversary.

The vase was presented to Co-operation Ireland when Belfast City Council hosted the awards in 2013.

The awards are an all-island event, and over 500 delegates travel from across the four provinces to celebrate the unsung heroes of local society.

There is probably no event that better sums up Co-operation Ireland’s ethos.

Loop head Together, Co. Clare are one of hundreds of organisations to win an award over the years

Pride of Place Chairman Tom Dowling said two decades after their inception, the awards continued to hold an important place in Irish society.

“Pride of Place continues to be about acknowledging and recognising in a meaningful manner the important caring work of all our communities as they continue their daily journey of making the path of life easier for all. 

“This fabulous journey could not have happened without the far-sighted vision of Co-operation Ireland, the local authorities, and IPB, who all recognised the importance of communities participating in such a prestigious competition embracing and demonstrating their pride in their place.”

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