Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s vote in Westminster, community groups north and south will continue to be supported, promised Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney.

Community groups will continue to be supported, whether or not British prime minister Boris Johnson gets support on Saturday for a deal on Brexit.

Recently, Changing Ireland put one question to Tánaiste (and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Simon Coveney. We asked the minister about communities, projects and Brexit, and what he had to say to community project leaders across Ireland – and particularly those near the border – with Brexit issues looming.

Minister Simon Coveney speaks to Allen Meagher at Ploughing Championships 2019 in Carlow.

“The first thing I would like to say to them is that we’re going to continue to support you,” said Minister Coveney.

“In terms of funding many of these community projects – many of them particularly that are linked to peace and protecting relationships, particularly between young people and in the border counties – you do great work and it’s really important that we continue to fund you in that work.

“And we have an agreement with the EU that we will continue to fund peace funding, even beyond the current funding cycle, which is really important post-Brexit.

“But of course we would like the British government to also commit to play their part in that regard as well.

“Lots of people are concerned and there’s huge uncertainty. But the one thing that I would like to say to projects that are about peace and community engagement and integration [is that] I can assure you we will continue to fund and support the work you do,” he said.

Minister Coveney was interviewed at the Ploughing Championships in Carlow.