WEST Belfast MLA Aisling Reilly has welcomed the launch of the International Fund for Irelands’ new five-year strategy, praising the organisation’s decades of work in supporting communities, breaking down barriers and helping to build a shared future across Ireland.
The strategy launch event was held at the Black Mountain Shared Space in West Belfast, itself a powerful example of the positive transformation supported by the IFI over many years.
Speaking following the event, Aisling Reilly MLA said: “It was really great to attend the launch of the International Fund for Ireland’s new five-year strategy and to recognise the incredible contribution the organisation has made over the past 40 years.
“The IFI has played a hugely important role in supporting communities right across the north, particularly communities still living with the legacy of conflict and division. Their investment in peacebuilding, regeneration and community development has helped change lives and transform areas for the better.”
Ms Reilly also highlighted the significance of the IFI’s support for West Belfast projects, particularly the development of the Black Mountain Shared Space and the organisation’s wider peace barriers programme which operates in her own constituency.
The Black Mountain Shared Space, located beside the former interface on the Springfield Road, has become a major symbol of progress and reconciliation. The project saw sections of interface barriers removed to create a modern, shared community facility designed to bring people together.
“West Belfast has directly benefited from the vision and support of the International Fund for Ireland, especially through projects like the Black Mountain Shared Space and the peace barriers programme," she added.
“These initiatives are about much more than bricks and mortar, they are about building trust, creating opportunities for people to connect and ensuring future generations grow up in communities shaped by hope rather than division.”
The Junior Minister said one of the most powerful moments of the launch event was hearing from Lily and Michelle, two women who live facing each other across the peace wall, whose friendship developed through the programme.
“Hearing the story of Lily and Michelle was genuinely moving. Two women who for years lived facing one another across a peace wall, now able to call each other friends because of the work supported through these programmes.
“That is what peacebuilding looks like in practice. It is about people, relationships and breaking down barriers that for too long divided communities.”
