The Community Safety Fund redirects proceeds of crime seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Siochana back into communities.

This year’s allocation is a 10 per cent increase on the €4.4 million awarded in 2025, and a 146 per cent, or €2.84 million increase on the funding allocated to the first Community Safety Fund in 2022. This year the Fund will support 56 community safety projects across the country. This is over double the number of projects funded by the first Community Safety Fund in 2022.

Mr O’Callaghan launched the fund for 2026 yesterday with the Localise Youth and Community Service CLG, who will receive €74,000 for ‘The Safe Neighbourhood Project’, at St Andrews Resource Centre. This project will address social isolation and concerns about safety in disadvantaged inner-city areas.

The project will bring young people and older residents together through volunteering, community activities, and storytelling projects using art and media. By working together on shared goals, participants will build trust and understanding. The project will create stronger relationships between generations and challenge negative stereotypes.

Through practical, community-led action, the Safe Neighbourhood Project will support participants to play an active role in shaping vibrant, connected communities where people feel safe, supported and valued.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “The Community Safety Fund redirects the proceeds of crime into positive programmes that strengthen local communities, support vulnerable groups, engage young people and help prevent crime.

“This year the Community Safety Fund will invest a record €4.84 million into community-led initiatives across the country that are working to make our communities safer and more inclusive. These projects will deliver tangible benefits across Ireland and demonstrate my commitment to ensuring that the proceeds of crime are used to create safer, stronger and more inclusive communities.

“I am particularly pleased to visit the Safe Neighbourhood Project, which demonstrates the power of local initiatives to bring people together, combat isolation and build stronger, safer communities.

“Community safety is about more than reducing crime. It is also about creating connected, resilient communities where people feel supported, included and safe. I am encouraged by the project’s focus on tackling social isolation and building trust between generations. These are important foundations for stronger and safer communities.”

This year’s successful projects will deliver community initiatives across a broad range of priorities, including community safety & local engagement; support, inclusion & integration of minority and marginalised groups; domestic, sexual & gender-based violence; and youth focused community safety.

Projects relating to community reintegration and reducing offending; addiction recovery and substance misuse; digital safety and online harm; as well as LGBTQI+ have also been funded.

Derek Cleary, director of Localise said: “Localise National Youth Volunteers are delighted to have been awarded funding of €74,000 through the Community Safety Fund.

“Community safety is built not only through enforcement, but through investment in relationships, opportunity, and a shared responsibility for one another across generations and for the benefit of young and old alike.

“This funding provides a unique opportunity to develop our intergenerational volunteering projects from a community safety perspective and increase their impact. The Safe Neighbourhood Project will put early empathy intervention and equitable pathways into action, using volunteering to tackle anti-social behaviour, strengthen self-worth and recognise the skills young people develop through service.

“By connecting volunteering to further education and employment, we can open up opportunities for young people while strengthening dignity, respect and community safety for all generations.”

The National Office for Community Safety has responsibility for administering the Community Safety Fund. Gráinne Berrill, director of the National Office for Community Safety, said: “The Community Safety Fund continues to show how the proceeds of crime can be transformed into positive outcomes for communities. The projects funded this year reflect the diversity of community safety challenges across Ireland and the capacity of local organisations to develop innovative and effective responses.

“Through this record investment, we are supporting initiatives that will strengthen communities, promote inclusion, engage young people and contribute to safer neighbourhoods across the country. We look forward to seeing the positive impact these projects will have in the years ahead.”