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COMMUNITY RELATIONS: CURRENT ISSUES (DECEMBER 2003 – JANUARY 2004)

 

Paramilitaries

Paramilitary activity continued. In December-January the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were blamed for shooting and beating up a 14 year-old boy in the New lodge, North Belfast. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) were blamed for kidnapping, beating and shooting a 17 year-old in West Belfast. Loyalists were blamed for shooting a 16 year-old youth in East Belfast. A 47 year-old man was shot in both legs in Mulderg Drive in the Whitewell area of Belfast. Outside the city, loyalists were blamed for attacking a 44 year-old man in Bangor with a sledgehammer and breaking both his legs. A man was shot in legs in Antrim's Park Hall estate and a 37 year-old man was shot in Jonesborough, County Armagh.

Loyalists were blamed for a spate of attacks on leading republicans in West Belfast, including an attack on Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly's home, Sinn Fein councillor Paul Butler, and the home of Freddie Scappaticci, the man alleged to be the British agent code-named “Stakeknife”. In an ongoing inquiry into the murder of 22 year-old Andrew William Cairns in Larne on the 12th July 2003, it was reported that the PSNI knew who the killer was. The incident had apparently been a product of an internal loyalist feud between the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), but the PSNI believe that intimidation is preventing witnesses from coming forward. Loyalists were also blamed for attacking and vandalising republican graves and memorials in Milltown cemetery, and connected to the vandalising of murder victim, Danny McColgan's, grave in Newtownabbey's Carnmoney cemetery.

Republicans were blamed for attacking the homes and property of DPP members, Cathy Donnelly, a member of the Armagh DPP, and Tony Quinn of the Cookstown DPP both had property destroyed. Meanwhile, the PSNI warned the father of missing man Gareth O'Connor that he was under threat of attack from republican paramilitaries. In an interview last July the Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, said it was highly likely that the PIRA was behind the suspected abduction and murder. The PIRA were also considered to be prime suspects in a hijacking incident of a lorry containing £1m cigarettes, close to the border on the Dublin-Belfast road.

In the face of all this ongoing paramilitary activity and violence, the first formal meeting of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) took place. The IMC has been set up to probe possible breaches of paramilitary ceasefires.

The Ulster Protestant Research Group (UPRG) warned that the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) ceasefire could break down due to ongoing concerns over prisoner status in Maghaberry prison. The situation in the prison has been deteriorating for months and finally lead to violence in January when 35 prisoners blockaded themselves in the jail and set fires to a number of offices. Many prison officers were hurt and in the days that followed 3 inmates reportedly began hunger strikes. In addition to this there were specific concerns over the treatment of Protestants by Republicans, living west of the Bann and in the North West, and they were cited as putting a strain on the ceasefire. Continuing inter-communal violence and employment discrimination within this region were highlighted by the UPRG.


Victims and Survivors

Former Victims Commissioner Sir Kenneth Bloomfield suggested that a permanent and independent commission should be established in Northern Ireland to support and deal with the needs of victims and survivors.

A row erupted in Newry and Mourne District Council over a proposal to build a monument to honour over 200 members of the Police and British Army who lost their lives in the area during the “Troubles”. Nationalist politicians complained that a Memorial to the Victims of the Troubles already existed in the town, and argued that there was no need for a second monument.

The group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR), that support families of IRA victims, complained that rehabilitation projects aimed at supporting ex-republican prisoners received more money than victims groups. They pointed to what they considered to be the illogical rationale which supported those who 'caused the trouble' rather than those who had suffered.


Racism

The problem of racism in Northern Ireland came to the fore during this period with a number of violent attacks and racial intimidation reported. Focus fell on the area of south Belfast. Some papers reported on alleged links between the far-right British National Party (BNP) and loyalist paramilitaries. In one weekend alone a family originally from Uganda and a group of Chinese people – including two heavily pregnant women – were driven from their homes in the Village area of the city. At the same time the trade union UNISON sought a police meeting when it emerged that up to 18 Filipino nurses working in the City Hospital had been subjected to racial intimidation and attacks on their way to and from work. By no means were the incidents, however, confined to Greater Belfast. A Chinese family were attacked in their home in Ballymena, while in Craigavon the PSNI reported that they were investigating a possible racial motive to an attack on a 13 year old of Vietnamese origin. The young girl had been attacked and a knife held to her throat.

In an effort to address racism the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Martin Morgan, launched the City Council's Good Relations Strategy and used the opportunity to condemn those carrying out racist attacks.

A man who shouted racial abuse at the Asian owners of a dry cleaning shop was fined £150 for disorderly behaviour.


Education

Department of Education figures indicated that up to £750m is needed to pay for 110 local schools identified in the highest priority categories of the Department's capital priorities planning list.

As a central theme for the citizenship programme several Northern Ireland schools including: St Dominic's High School, Belfast; St Catherine's College, Armagh; Sacred Heart Primary, Belfast; Holy Rosary Nursery School and Killowen Primary in the North East, will all be engaging in a variety of project work that will challenge the children to learn more about minority ethnic groups and community differences.

As part of the Holocaust Memorial hosted by Belfast City Council, but also to highlight cultural and religious diversity in the city, children from the Jewish community launched an educational aid entitled 'we're here too'. This is the result of a project completed by the children and will tour local schools from April 2004.

An Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) mural was painted outside Eden Primary School in Carrickfergus. When asked if this was an inappropriate image, William Cameron of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) stated that he believed the mural improved the surrounding as many walls had unsightly graffiti.


Equality and Human Rights

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called for the Irish Prime Minister to secure official European Union (EU) status for the Irish language during the forthcoming Irish Presidency of the EU. Meanwhile, POBAL – an umbrella organisation for Irish speakers – launched a document entitled 'Know Your Rights' aimed at encouraging Irish speakers to avail themselves of the new rights available to them under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

Ogra Shinn Féin, the youth wing of Sinn Féin launched a new All-Ireland campaign aimed at lobbying for and securing, the right for residents of Northern Ireland to vote in the Irish Presidential Elections. The stated aim is to 'achieve the first all-Ireland elections by the end of 2004'.

Amnesty International called for an end to holding asylum seekers in Maghaberry Prison during the processing of their application, and branded the location unfit and unsafe for the task at hand.

The Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM) claimed that the government was planning to withdraw funding from the sector. £400,000 is allocated to minority ethnic groups per annum. In 2003 an external consultancy recommended that the funding should be increased, but NICEM suggests that the Minister in charge is going against this decision and funding will therefore only continue for 1 more year.


Crime and Policing

In the period December 2003 – January 2004 calls have been made to extend Anti-social behaviour (ASBOS) legislation to Northern Ireland. The belief is that ASBOS has been successful elsewhere in the UK, especially in reducing crime perpetrated by young people. The Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble came out in favour of implementing the legislation and criticised the Northern Ireland Office over its 'apparent unwillingness' to extend the legislation to Northern Ireland. In the meantime, the Police Service of Northern Ireland released figures to highlight the ongoing problem of car theft and so-called 'joyriding'. A total of 35 vehicles were recovered by the PSNI in Lagmore, Poleglass and Twinbrook between 17th – 31st December 2003.

In the first case arising from an investigation by the Police Ombudsman's Office, a PSNI officer was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £400 for driving his Landrover on to a pavement toward a nationalist crowd. The crowd had been rioting following a controversial Orange Order parade on 29th June 2002.

In a report on the progress of police reform by the Oversight Commissioner for the Patten proposals, Tom Constantine said that intimidation was preventing speedier progress. He suggested that the clearest examples of this are ongoing 'attempts to use force to deter citizens from becoming police officers, members of the policing board or District Policing Partnerships'.

A new £8m PSNI station opened in Coleraine. It is the first of its kind to be completed under the Patten Report recommendations. Special facilities in the new station include a satellite enquiry service and a suite dedicated to dealing with child abuse and rape cases.

The policing board published a framework that will be used to monitor how the PSNI meet their responsibilities under the Human Rights Act 1998.

Temporary provisions of the Terrorism Act relating to Northern Ireland were extended for a further 12 months.


Public policy

Belfast City Council announced a public consultation exercise to help decide the future of the city's leisure centres. There is a £40m proposed expenditure package for this project and the consultation is intended to give citizens and interest groups the opportunity to influence decision-making.

On the 18th December 2003 a joint Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Northern Ireland Fire Service public awareness campaign was launched.  This was designed to put a stop to attacks on Ambulance and Fire crews. The campaign includes television adverts and is the first of three phases in a £400,000 initiative.

The Review of Public Administration continued to gather momentum with a number of newspaper articles appealing for the public, community and voluntary sectors to take the opportunity to engage with the consultation process.


Young People

Young people were encouraged to engage in public and political life through a number of high profile initiatives including, a campaign by Commissioner for Children and Young People aimed at finding out their views on Healthcare in NI.

The theatre company Tinderbox ran a project entitled 'Vote Vote Vote' which brought together young people from six schools, adult community groups and youth groups in a workshop that examined themes of representation, democracy and making your voice heard.

Plans to develop a worldwide youth community were unveiled at Belfast's Waterfront Hall, over 70 local schools took part. The initiative, supported by Invest Northern Ireland, aims to link up with similar projects around the globe to support, among other things, an appreciation of cultural and national diversity.

Finally, business owners in Holywood are apparently trying to enlist some classical performers to help their fight against anti-social behaviour. A proposal, backed by the Chamber of Commerce, has been tabled to play classical music outside shops in an attempt to discourage youths from hanging around and creating trouble.

 


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