€22m Peace Campus opens for cross border communities

A new €22 million “peace campus” will be officially opened in Monaghan today.

The four storey community building in the heart of Monaghan town has taken four years to build.

It will provide a cultural and heritage centre, youth facility and shared community space for people in this border region.

The campus received significant funding from the EU’s Peace IV programme, which is a cross border initiative to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.

The Monaghan Peace Campus will be a shared space for cross community and cross border activities.

It is hoped the new facility will bring people together to address issues of separation and division which impacted Monaghan communities during times of conflict.

One feature of the Peace Campus will be an exhibition space dedicated to the Ulster Scots identity and tradition.

Ulster Scots refers to the migration of people from the lowlands of Scotland into Ulster from 1606.

The Ulster Scots Agency, set up under the Good Friday Agreement, is responsible for protecting and developing the language, heritage and culture of the Ulster Scots.

CEO Ian Crozier has said the Peace Campus is “significant” because it is the first time that the Ulster Scots identity will be recognised and celebrated in a public building in the Republic of Ireland.

The impressive building provides a new home for the town’s library, which will be open from next Monday, 13 May.

The county museum is also relocating to the Peace Campus from its former premises in the town.

Curator Liam Bradley said that they are in the process of moving more than 50,000 objects and artefacts to the new museum and it is hoped it will open its doors to the public later this month.

The project has cost €21.7 million in total, with €14.4 million of that funded by the EU’s Peace IV programme.

That funding is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.

The project also received funding from Monaghan County Council, Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland and the Department for communities in Northern Ireland.