A dispute over the allocation of £1.5 million of PeacePlus funding at Ards and North Down Borough Council has sparked tension between unionist and Alliance parties. Unionists opted for funding projects in Donaghadee, Bangor, and Portaferry, while Alliance proposed a shared training pitch for rugby and GAA in Holywood.
A plan to not use European cross-community funding for a joint rugby and GAA programme in Holywood has caused a stir in the local council. Unionist parties came up against Alliance, Greens and the SDLP in a decision over where to spend over £1.5 million of PeacePlus money, at Ards and North Down Borough Council.
The Alliance led group questioned the dismissal by unionists of a plan for a new shared Holywood training pitch to be used by Holywood Rugby Football Club and St Paul’s Gaelic Athletic Club. Meanwhile the Unionist parties and independents, led by the DUP, went for a mixture of options involving funding for a new Donaghadee Pump Track, funding for the Bangor Cycle Park and improving Portaferry parklands. PeacePlus is a cross-border funding programme created to strengthen peace and prosperity within Northern Ireland and border counties in the Republic. It is the successor programme to both Peace IV and Interreg VA. Elected representatives at Ards and North Down were given three funding options, the first involving the £1,866,391 Holywood Shared Pitch Project, with the council due to cover £211,186. The second option was to proceed with Donaghadee Pump Track at a cost of £219,351 leaving £1,335,854. £744, 312 would be used for Portaferry parklands and £519,542 for an element of Bangor Cycle track. The third option was to proceed with Donaghadee Pump Track at £219,351 and the Bangor Cycle Park at £1,149,347 and use £186,507 for a small element of the Portaferry scheme. At committee level last month the DUP successfully proposed option three. At the most recent meeting of the full council, Alliance questioned the choic
Peaceplus Funding Holywood Rugby GAA Ards And North Down Borough Council Unionist Alliance Party Politics Northern Ireland
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