Oireachtas Committee asked to advance engagement with East and North Belfast groups

his morning, the Committee visited the Duncairn Partnership, the Short Strand Community Forum and Partnership and the East Belfast Methodist Mission. (full itinerary below).

Committee Chairman Joe McHugh TD says: "Our Committee has received a tremendously warm welcome in Belfast and has had a series of insightful discussions with community representatives on the ground, in which their honesty, courage and determination shone through. We heard upbeat and candid presentations on practical initiatives that have contributed so much to maintaining peace.

"Commencing our series of engagements, we visited the Duncairn Partnership in North Belfast. We were greatly encouraged by practical progress reported by community leaders in this predominantly loyalist area. We heard about a housing project, in which 22 families from nationalist and unionist backgrounds share the same apartment block in what was a serious flashpoint in past decades. We are also encouraged by community policing initiatives which resulted in a decrease in recorded crime of up to 75 percent, in part by community education programmes which replaced fears of reporting crime within the community with values of responsible citizenship.
 
"We also visited the Short Strand Community Forum and Partnership. We heard a forthright assessment from community leaders on the distinct challenges facing the primarily nationalist Short Strand area in East Belfast, which is almost entirely encircled by peace walls. One of the effects of this encirclement is the limited space available for community development and growth. The area suffers from a lack of services and has high unemployment. We heard that the employment opportunities presented by the development of the Titanic Quarter had not materialised for local residents.

Acknowledging the gains of recent years, our Committee is conscious of the problems that endure in these communities. Despite many years of an embedded peace process, the peace walls in interface areas across Belfast not only remain, but some are higher now than they were in 1998. Hearing firsthand the issues of unemployment, lack of educational attainment and drugs related crime from community leaders, Committee Members pointed to the parallels with problems faced in working class areas in their constituencies south of the border.

"We were struck by the calls from those on the ground for greater political leadership. This Committee, for our part, will work to advance the concerns heard today, such as improving the institutional arrangements to ensure that the funding available filters down to the communities that need it most. This evening and tomorrow, we continue our engagement with those at the vanguard of promoting reconciliation, tolerance and mutual respect between these communities and other communities across the island."

Tomorrow, the Committee will attend the formal opening of the cross-community Skainos Centre in inner East Belfast by First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. The project, which involved construction of a new urban village, is a model for development of a shared space, accessible to the whole community, in a contentious area.

Follow this Committee on Facebook and view photos from today: http://www.facebook.com/GFAIC

Ends
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
F: +3531 618 4551
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie

Members of the Committee:
Deputies Seán Conlan,  Seán Crowe, Clare Daly, Regina Doherty,  Peter Fitzpatrick, Frank Feighan, Martin Ferris, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, Peter Fitzpatrick,  Michael P. Kitt, Joe McHugh, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Joe O'Reilly, Brendan Smith and Joanna Tuffy.
Senators Jim D'Arcy, Maurice Cummins, Martin McAleese, Mary Moran, Mary White.
Chairman: Joe McHugh, TD Vice-Chairman: Joe O'Reilly, TD