Northern Ireland community groups who have “helped almost 12,000 people” are facing a funding “cliff edge” thanks to European money running out, it is claimed.
A number of these groups have come together to press both Westminster and Stormont over the issue, saying a “bureaucratic impasse between Northern Ireland and Westminster officials” is to blame for the funding logjam.
The groups say that up to 1,700 jobs and critical support services “for some of the most vulnerable in society” are at risk because of an ongoing failure to replace funding previously provided by the European Union’s Social Fund with money from the UK’s Levelling-Up Fund.
