Community Relations Council

• Jobs
• Press Releases
• News
• Links
• Speeches
• Contact
• Council Minutes

04 September 2008

Meeting: 11.30am Thursday 4th September 2008 Venue: CRC Boardroom, Belfast Present: Brendan Mackin (Chairperson), Breege Lenihan, Helen Johnston, Tony O’Callaghan, Jim Deery, William Redpath (OFMDFM), Cormac Woods (DCGRA), In attendance: Border Action: Denis Leamy, Paddy McGinn, Colette Nulty, Anne Molloy, Bernard Bolger, Donald McDonald, Pauline Perry, Donnacha McSorley. Community Relations Council: Duncan Morrow, Jim Dennison, Jacqueline Irwin, Emma Jackson, Eileen Deacon, Peter Day, Emma Dargan, Elizabeth Corrigan, Gordon Walker, Patricia Armstrong. SEUPB: Adrian McNamee, Dept of Finance and Personnel (NI): Johnny Ash (representing Martin Tyrell) Apologies: David Stevens, Eileen Gallagher.

Thursday 4^th September 2008

1.   Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of the 24^th July were agreed by the Committee.

2.   Matters Arising

2.1 It was brought to attention of the Committee that a further  application had been withdrawn from Peace III, Strand 3, bringing the number of applications under assessment at this meeting to 38.

2.2 The F.A.I.R. – ‘Capable’ application (000706) which was deferred on 24^th July ’08 was presented to the Committee for further consideration. Clarifications were sought from the promoter and on consideration of this information the Committee rejected the application for the following reasons:

1.    The project did not meet the required scoring threshold.  The agreed score for the application is 51.25%

2.    The project failed to meet the Programme and Priority Objectives

3.    The project failed to meet the Efficiency and Effectiveness Criteria

3.   Conflict of Interest

Chairman Brendan Mackin declared an interest in The Irish Trade Union Trust (000682) and was absent for the discussion relating to this project. Due to the similar nature of the Trademark application (000777), Brendan was also absent for this discussion.

4.   Strand 1  Addressing Legacy and Truth in Public Memory

4.1 A paper was presented on the concept and potential indicative actions for   Theme 1.2, Strand 1, Addressing Legacy and Truth in Public Memory.  This paper was agreed in principle by the Committee.  This Strand has a budget of approximately €5m – 10m and it is anticipated that there will be a small number of larger projects funded, in the region 6 to 10.  Projects will be expected to have an impact on the entire eligible region.

4.2 The following process for the rollout of Strand 1 was discussed and agreed by the Committee:

§ The strand would open at the end of September for Expressions of Interest to assist the Consortium in gathering information on the level of interest, the potential type of actions/projects, provide support to applicants and finalise the criteria for a tendering process

§ The tendering stage would likely to be in November 2008 with decisions to be made by the Steering Committee in January 2009

4.3 Committee agreed to move forward on the basis of a paper and process presented by staff.

5.   Update

5.1 Strand 2

§ 23 applications have been received in total, of which 10 are full applications (Part A and B) and 13 are at the Part A stage.

§ Development staff will be undertaking eligibility checks and assessment reports over the coming weeks, with a view to decisions being made in November, although 2 projects will be presented at the next meeting.

§ This strand is still open, and the next meeting may be an opportunity to discuss a closing date.

5.2 Strand 3

§ All funding applications have been processed by Development staff.

§ Consultants have been appointed to undertake 9 Economic Appraisals.

§ Following Steering Committee instruction, staff have sought further clarification on the relevant applications. The clarifications will be considered and entered into the Assessment Reports to be presented along with all other applications deemed “Eligible for Further Consideration” at the October 2^nd meeting.

§ It was agreed that for the October meeting the list of projects eligible for consideration would be divided equally between the Committee members so that each will have a designated responsibility to concentrate on certain projects. If a member is unable to attend the October meeting it was agreed that they will provide comments on their designated projects to Consortium Staff for presentation on the day

6.   Financial Summary

6.1 The Committee were informed that the total amount of current applications eligible for consideration is €20,634,776 reflecting a potential over-commitment of €644,000.

6.2 A financial overview will presented at the next meeting which will also include an overview of the applications for consideration by geographical area, target groups and themes, to assist the committee in the decision making processes and maximising strategic impact.

.

7.   Applications for Consideration

7.1 The Committee agreed that projects that scored over 65% were deemed “Eligible for further consideration” and clarifications to be sought as agreed.

7.2   All applications that were agreed as Eligible for Consideration at the July Meeting and this meeting would be reconsidered for final decision at the October meeting.

7.3 Committee agreed that all projects scoring lower than 65% be rejected.

 7.4 Steering Committee Decisions and Recommendations on the projects are summarised in the Decision Grid attached.

.

8.  Any other Business

No other business was discussed.

9.   Date of the Next Meeting

The next meeting was agreed to be held on October 2^nd at 10:30 in CRC Offices, Moygashel.