By Staff Reporter

Funding of €526,000 for community integration projects to be carried out in 2019 has been announced by Minister of State David Stanton.

The Communities Integration Fund will provide grant funding for local community projects that support the integration of migrants.

Applications can now be made online to the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration at the Department of Justice and Equality.

Details of the funding were announced by Minister Stanton while attending the launch of the Cork City of Sanctuary Movement Strategic Plan of Action 2018-2020 in Millennium Hall recently.

“What happens at the local level is critical to successful integration. The Communities Integration Fund is about bringing people together. We are looking to community groups to tap into the rich diversity of their local area and create opportunities for people to get to know one another,” said the Minister of State with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration.

Justice said the 2019 fund includes a sum of €26,000 from the Office of Public Works for art-based integration projects. This has been made possible by the ‘Per Cent for Art Scheme’ under which one per cent of capital works can be allocated to commissioning works of art. This is a once-off inclusion in the Communities Integration Fund.

Minister Stanton added: “Ireland’s National Migrant Integration Strategy recognises that culture and the arts can be a powerful means of promoting integration. I am particularly pleased that we are able to fund additional art-based integration projects this year with support from the Office of Public Works.”

Those interested in applying for the fund are asked to submit an application electronically using the Communities Integration Fund 2019 Application form on www.integration.ie by the deadline of 9pm on Thursday 2 May. Other relevant information, including assessment criteria, is available at the same link.