Monaghan Schools Peace & Reconciliation Project

The Monaghan Schools Peace and Reconciliation Project aims to help families and schools produce young people who are free from intolerance and bigotry resulting in a more inclusive and accepting society.

The main objectives of this project is to:

Build partnerships between schools to identify challenges regarding peace building and cultural acceptance.
Provide One-to-one support to marginalised young people and their families to aid their integration into the education system, local community and society in general.
Facilitation of student workshops aimed at raising awareness and understanding of young people’s different religious and cultural backgrounds.
Encouraging parents to participate in diversity awareness, anti-racism and anti-sectarianism training, so that they too can educate their children to have respect for other cultures and communities.
Build partnerships and promote networks between schools and outside agencies, such as ISPCC, Barnardos, Monaghan Neighbourhood Youth Project, Youth Work Ireland Monaghan etc. to ensure that young people from all backgrounds receive the best possible support in their vocational path.

The project will enable young people from different religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds to come together within the safety of the school environment to avail of much needed one to one support and guidance from the Peace Integration Support Officer. Students will be encouraged to engage in a range of programmes and interventions aimed at promoting positive self development, supporting academic achievement, promoting cultural awareness and understanding while also developing good relations at local level.

Specific elements of this project will include diversity and cultural awareness, anti-sectarianism and anti-racism training for young people and their families, which will raise awareness and understanding of the different cultures and traditions of people resident in County Monaghan and to promote an acceptance of diversity.

We will specifically engage with marginalised young people and families (key target groups of the PEACE III programme) through the provision of one to one support from the Peace Integration Support Officer. This level of support is necessary initially to encourage these young people and their families to participate in the project and to also engage fully with the formal education sector, informal youth sector and wider community.

In addition to the one to one support offered through the service, we also provide a range of group activities to young people from different religious and cultural backgrounds in order to support their personal, social and academic development as well as promoting interaction with their peers, teachers, the informal education and youth sector and the wider community. These programmes include:

Cultural Awareness Programme
Anti Racism / Anti Sectarianism Programme
Anti Bullying Programme
Induction Days
Settling In Courses
Student Support and Homework Clubs
Psychologist / Counselling Support
Translation Service

For further information on the project, please do not hesitate to contact David Mc Cague, Peace Integration Support Officer.

Phone: 047-74004
Email: davidmccague@metc.ie

This project is financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund through the Peace III Project.