A cross community mental health and wellbeing programme designed by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC) to deal with isolation and suicide prevention has been rejected by EU fund managers because it is too focused on health and not linked to the legacy of conflict.

In order to meet Peace IV funding objectives the Council has had to drastically alter its proposed mental health initiative from dealing with older people, carers and people with a disability to engaging with families of those involved in the conflict; children of victims and survivors; ex-combatants; serving and ex-security force personnel and on the runs.
FODC has been allocated €3.3 million under the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation 2014-2020 (Peace IV).

It is currently developing a Peace and Reconciliation Action Plan for the area which will act as the Council’s application to bid for the €3.3 million budget allocation. 

In December 2016, the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) told FODC that its cross community mental health and wellbeing programme has been “disallowed” because “it is difficult to see” how the proposed actions “link to the legacy of the conflict.” SEUPB also said it “had significant concerns that this remains a health work plan with limited peace elements.”

The Council was given three months to reapply for the £184,000 budget associated with this programme.

At the Regeneration and Community Committee last Tuesday evening (March 14), Councillors agreed to the submission of a revised cross community mental health and wellbeing programme.

Councillors were reminded that FODC submitted stage one of its Peace and Reconciliation Action Plan in June last year. Stage two was submitted in September 2016 and included the failed mental health and wellbeing programme which had called for “therapeutic support around counselling and life coaching for adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, visual impairments/blind, hard of hearing/deaf, older people and carers.”

Following the SEUPB’s refusal, the Council’s PEACE IV Partnership which is compiling the Peace and Reconciliation Action Plan for the area had to return to the drawing board. The partnership consists of a group of councillors, statutory agencies and ‘social partners’ i.e. local community-based workers.

The new proposal, which was resubmitted last Tuesday, states: “The basis of this programme stems from the 30 years of conflict (the ‘Troubles’) with: at least 3,500 deaths; over 35,000 injuries; 16,000 people charged with terrorist offences; 34,000 shootings; and 14,000 bombings.

"The Fermanagh and Omagh District experienced some of the worst atrocities of the conflict including the Enniskillen bomb in 1987 and the Omagh bomb in 1998. This year (i.e. 2017) marks the 30th anniversary of the Enniskillen bomb and next year, 2018 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bomb. It would be reasonable to assume that there are few families in Northern Ireland (with such a small population) that have not been ‘affected’ by the conflict.”

It adds: “The Programme will initially examine the effects of the participants’ experiences (of the Troubles) in relation to their mental health and will explore, through direct (sensitive) interaction with participants and relevant stakeholders, approaches to overcoming mental health issues which could include, for example, a range of therapeutic support services.”

An external consultant would be appointed by the PEACE IV Partnership to deliver and implement the programme and the Partnership has suggested working in conjunction with the Military and Police Support of West Tyrone, the South East Fermanagh Foundation, the RUC George Cross Foundation and Iarchimni Fhearmanach (formerly Fermanagh Prisoners Dependents Association).