Northern Ireland health minister Bairbre de Brun has allocated £2m to get the Sure Start programme underway.The programme, already running in other parts of the UK, is intended to promote the development of pre-school children, focusing on deprived areas. Ms de Brun said some areas of particular need had not been covered by Sure Start projects because no applications were put forward or applications did not meet the scheme's criteria. She said more money would be found for projects next year, targeted on these areas.