Minister Brophy welcomes increased support for Irish Diaspora Communities
News
19 October 2020
Minister for the Diaspora, Colm Brophy T.D. welcomes increased support for Irish Diaspora communities
Minister of State Brophy has welcomed the increase of €500,000 in the 2021 budget for the Emigrant Support Programme:
“I am delighted to announce that the Government has increased its support for our Diaspora, bringing the total funding for Irish communities around the world to over €13 million in 2021.
“This increase in funding will strengthen our capacity to work with the hundreds of community organisations worldwide who provide support for the most vulnerable members of the Diaspora. It also means that we can offer additional funding to help Irish people and people of Irish descent to remain connected to Ireland through our shared culture and heritage.
“In the coming weeks, I am looking forward to launching the Government’s new Diaspora Strategy and ensuring that we have the resources available to implement it. The welfare of our people abroad will remain at heart of the Strategy but at the same time it will also seek to celebrate the global Irish community of today in all its diversity.”
Since its inception in 2004, the Emigrant Support Programme has assisted over 530 organisations in 36 countries with grants totalling over €182 million. Grants have ranged from small amounts for grass-roots groups, to major allocations awarded to voluntary and community organisations operating on a large scale. In 2019 alone, there were over 476 applications from more than 20 countries requesting over €21 million worth of funding for the Programme's €12.59 million budget.
Through the ESP, the Government provides financial support to organisations engaged in the delivery of front line advisory services and community care to Irish emigrants, particularly to the more vulnerable and marginalised members of our community abroad, including the elderly. In addition, the ESP also facilitates Irish Government investment in a range of cultural, community and heritage projects, which foster a vibrant sense of Irish community and identity, as well as strategic capital projects.
