Three community organisations in the Drogheda area are to receive funding totalling €286,000 from the Community Safety Innovation Fund which reinvests the proceeds of crime seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Welcoming the announcement by Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee yesterday evening, the Drogheda Implementation Board revealed that the projects will be delivered by Connect Family Resource Centre, Drogheda Women and Children’s Refuge and Foróige’s CABLE Youth Diversion Project.
Another member of Drogheda Implementation Board structures, Family Addiction Support Network (FASN), will receive funding for a Trauma in the Community project for counties Louth, Meath and Monaghan.
Announcing the fund, Minister McEntee said:
“I’ve said consistently that the people who are best placed to know and respond to local safety issues are communities themselves.
“It’s vital that we empower our communities to proactively address safety concerns and, in the process, build stronger, safer communities.
“This fund reflects the continued successes of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau seizing the ill-gotten gains of criminals. That’s why I’m delighted that we have been able to increase the size of this fund to €3.75 million under Budget 2024.”
“Putting this money back into the community is a really tangible way of showing that there can be a direct link between the activities of law enforcement and improved feelings of community safety.”
The Department of Justice announced in July 2023 that the term of the Drogheda Implementation Board would be extended to September 2023 to allow for the establishment of a new Community Safety Partnership structure.
Local Community Safety Partnerships will be established in each local authority area following the enactment of the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.
Drogheda Implementation Board are also partners in another successful Community Safety Innovation Fund project which will contribute towards this transition, alongside Newry Mourne and Down Policing and Community Safety Partnership; Longford, Waterford and the North East Inner City Community Safety Partnerships.
This project will facilitate the establishment of an All-Island Community Safety Network, a space to share ideas, good practice and projects relating to community safety.
