Community Relations Council
Equity Diversity Interdependence
Promoting a Peaceful and Fair
Society based on Reconciliation
and Mutual Trust.
September 25th 2008
25 December 2008
MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY-FIRST MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL HELD ON THURSDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER 2008 @ 1.30 p.m. IN CRC’S (2ND FLOOR) BOARDROOM, 6 MURRAY STREET, BELFAST BT1 6DN
1914/08 PRESENT: Action:
Mr J Deery, Ms H Francey, Ms E Gallagher, Ms M Hetherington,
Mr T McCusker. (Chair), Ms S McDermott, Mr D Porter, Mr E Oakes,
1915/08 APOLOGIES:
Mr M Campbell, Mr S Farry, Ms S Gordon, Ms R McCorley Mr T Kennedy, Ms M Muldoon, Ms C Wilson.
Staff: Mr J Fitzsimons [PD/DFAP]
1916/08 IN ATTENDANCE:
Dr D Morrow [CEO], Ms J Irwin {Deputy CEO], Mr R Mullan [P/D Communication & Resources], Ms D McGlade{P/D Policy Dev], Ms H Scott [P/Secretary].
Neill Jarman [Interface Working Group]
1917/08 OBSERVER:
Mr D Haire (CRU/OFMDFM)
1918/08 MINUTES:
The Minutes from the previous meetings (26th June and 4th Sept May 2008) having been circulated, were taken as read. There were no amendments.
1919/08 CHAIR’S BUSINESS:
(1) Ballynafeigh conference: The Chair said that he had attended this conference where groups were used to inspire discussions, he thought this was an effective mechanism and a useful event.
(2) Visit to Derry: The Chair said that he and Ms Hetherington had visited several groups in the Derry area and it had been an interesting and worth while visit. In particular, he suggested that St Columb’s Hall might be a good venue to host a reception and meet some local people from the various projects, possibly in Spring 2009.
(3) Victims conference: the Chair said that, on the whole, this was an outstanding conference. He congratulated staff for the smooth running of the event.
1919/08 Chairs’ Business continued: Action:
(4) “One small step” booklet: The Chair said this was now available and that the idea had been to have something from the campaign. He said there had been a mini launch and reception at Queen’s University at a time when George Mitchell was available, and this was deemed appropriate because he had written the foreword. The Chair suggested that there could be a more formal launch at a later date.
(5) Meeting Junior Ministers: The Chair said that he was to meet with Junior Ministers on the 14th October and would keep members up-dated.
1920/08 MATTERS ARISING:
(i) Annual Accounts[Mins 1911/08 refer]: The CEO confirmed that formal confirmation that CRC had met its Audit obligations had been received from Messrs Finegan Gibson at the Sept 4th meeting
(ii) Appointment of Auditors[Mins 1912/08 refer]: The CEO informed members that Messrs Finegan Gibson had been reappointed for a period of 1 year as an interim measure.:
The CEO informed members that Council would be subjected to a public sector audit by Government and this was likely to happen next year.
1921/08 PRESENTATIONS:
(i) CSI – Cohesion, sharing and integration: The CEO made a presentation to members under the following headings.
Dilemmas for CRC in relation to government policy for community relations.
A timeline
Consequences for CRC – parts 1, 2 and 3
Options for CRC:
There followed a general discussion during which the following actions were agreed:
Alert Ministers of CRC’s concerns
Follow up with letter(s) as appropriate
Encourage a wider debate
Engage where appropriate/state issue publicly
Address credibility issues i.e. we are continuing to work on the issues in the absence of government policy.
Focus on practical intervention, engage where appropriate, raise issue publicly
1921/08 Presentations continued: Action:
Lobby re CRC’s revised strategy which continues to reflect priorities in absence of government policy
(2) Towards sustainable security – Interface barriers and the legacy of segregation in Belfast: [Paper CRC/131.09/09/01 refers]
Neill Jarman presented n overview and context.
Mr McCusker suggested that a sentence on page 6 could be rephrased to reflects CRC’s lead role in the production of this report.
Ms McGlade/Neill Jarman
The Chair congratulated Mr Jarman for an excellent report.
The following was agreed:
The amended report would be sent to Ministers, NIO Minister Mr Paul Goggins and the Dept of Social Development
The report would be presented to the Belfast Peace partnership
The report would be published
A conference event would be planned around the report
Ms McGlade informed members that there would be a consultation process leading up to the conference.
Ms Francey said Belfast City Council had planned to take the report to ameeting next week and asked if members would be happy with this.
The Chair said the more publicity the better and thought that publication should happen sooner than later.
1922/08 OPERATIONAL PLANNING:
[Papers CRC/131/09/08/02(a), 02, 02.1(a), 02.1(b) refer]
1 Review of Performance - 02(a), 02
Ms Irwin said that this had been amended as a result of a discussion in the General Purposes meeting. She said that the difference was in the order of the items and it reflected members earlier discussions. With regard to ASF Ms Irwin said that as many actions as were possible were initiated.
Mr Deery queried the Targeting Social Need (TSN) target of !5% and wondered if this might be increased.
The Chair suggested that TSN targets could be reviewed.
Ms Irwin
1922/08 Operational Planning continued: Action:
Mr Porter said that the cause of the troubles was not only in TSN areas but that care needed to be taken to disentangle “cause and effect”.
2 Equality Update – 02.1(a), 02.1(b)
Ms Irwin advised members that the papers were essentially to update members on the implementation of CRC’s Equality Scheme; Section 75 progress and Disability action plan. She said that these had been tabled at the General Purposes Committee (Sept 19th)
There were no questions.
1923/08 GOVERNANCE REVIEW:
[Paper CRC/131/09/08/03 refers]
The CEO informed members that there were no issues arising because of the new Board but that a date to look at CRC Governance process would be set in duecourse. CEO
1924/08 PATHFINDER:
(1) Old Firm Alliance project/Belfast Community Sports Development Network: [Paper CRC/131/09/08/04 refers]
The CEO outlined the background, considerations and recommendations.
Amount Recommended: £22,830.00 subject to conditions outlined
Amount Approved: £22,830.00 subject to the following conditions:
§ All projects in the pilot are conducted on an inter-community basis
§ CRC received a full evaluation of the pilot project on its completion
§ CRC has no further obligation to provide future resources
(2) The Link [Paper CRC/131/09/08/05 refers]
The CEO outlined the background, consideration and recommendations.
Amount Recommended: up to £25,000.00 subject to conditions outlined
Amount Approved: up to £25,000 subject to the following conditions:
§ Given the limits of Pathfinder resources CRC should offer up to £25,000 to support the Link from January until March 2009.
1924/08 Pathfinder (Link) continued: Action:
§ The precise nature of the budget should be a matter of agreement between the organisation and CRC.
1925/08 POLICY PAPERS:
[CRC/131/09/08/06, 06.1, 06.2, 06.3 refer]
The following were CRC’s response to consultations
§ Review of Parades - 06
§ Civic Forum - 06.1
§ Priorities for Youth - 06.2
§ Northside Urban Village - 06.3
All the papers were agreed.
1926/08 CEO’s REPORT:
[CRC/131/09/08/07 refers]
This report outlines the main areas of business.
1 Bonfires: The CEO told members that in contrast to the positive reports from the Woodvale celebrations, the Stoneyford bonfire had been marred by sectarian behaviour and as a result funding had been withdrawn. The CEO advised that a meeting with the Chair and CEO, requested by Lisburn City Council, had to be postponed pending an appeal from the organisers of the Stoneyford event.
The CEO confirmed that the appeal had been heard by a panel and the Council decision had been upheld.
The Chair indicated that until a meeting had rearranged with Lisburn Borough Council no further discussion would be appropriate.
2 Finance Personnel:
The CEO told members that Mr Fitzsimons had been off work since August with a blood clot. He indicated that financial matters were being temporarily assisted by the “loan” of an accountant from Finegan Gibson to process with day to day finances. However, the CEO indicated that despite this, there was an additional burden to other staff and it was now clear that finances could not continue to be managed by one person.
1926/08 CEO’s Report continued: Action:
Mr Haire said that Council would need to produce Financial Reports at the November Council meeting
CEO
The Chair indicated that he had written to Mr Fitzsimons but that that members might like to write.
This was unanimously agreed. CEO
3 Potential Dungannon venue – feasibility study:
The CEO advised members that the long term situation in regard to CRC’s existing accommodation at Linen Green was that rents had been increasing as the centre had evolved into a fairly “high class” shopping venue. He said that as a result CRC was exploring options with the Rural Development Council and NIPPA with regard to a shared outreach centre in the Dungannon area. The CEO emphasised that CRC was willing to consider the feasibility of the project without prejudice to an eventual decision.
The CEO asked members if they were happy (in principle) to move this project forward. He pointed out that under Victims Scheme funding CRC was obliged to have a regional office and that Dungannon had proved to be a useful and popular venue for CRC West of the Bann.
Ms McDermott suggested caution when entering into "at risk" arrangements with architects. She said that with procurement regulations being more strictly applied to projects using government funding and the preference for design and build contracts, it made such an arrangement untenable.
After some discussion members indicated that they were content for staff to proceed with the feasibility of this project on condition that no commitments would be made without consultation of Council members and the caution should be noted.
The CEO said that members would be up-dated.
4 Draft outline Strategic Approach for Victims and Survivors [Consultation paper reference CRC/131/09/08/07(a)]
The CEO told members that this paper had to be submitted by the end of October and that members would be notified of dates.
1927/08 SECTOR REPSORTS: Action:
[PapersCRC/131/09/08/09 to 13 refer]
Funding & Development Programme
There were no questions
European Programme
(Paper CRC/131/09/08/10 refers)
There were no questions
Communication & Learning Resources
(Paper CRC/131/09/08/11 refers)
Mr Mullan reminded members that the “one Small Step” launch was on the 13th October at the 174 Trust in north Belfast.
Community Bridges Programme
(Paper CRC/131/09/08/12 refers)
The Chair suggested that there needed to be a discussion on this side of the border regarding funding that was about sustaining present posts rather than the development of new work.
Chair/CEO/Mr Hinds
Policy Development Programme
(Paper CRC/131/09/08/13 refers
Ms McGlade drew members attention to the Working Group’s paper on “Interface barriers” and to the “Shared Neighbour Programme” (Glandore, Skegoneill and Hazelwood.
1928/08 AOB:
Lenadoon/Suffolk interface: CRC has been approached by the Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Groups (SLIG) with a view to lobbying Ministers and other authorities. There is huge disappointment with regard to their application for an integrated school which has been turned down. As CRC and Atlantic Philanthropies have supported SLIG, they have asked us to meet to consider further steps.
(Staff were asked to leave the Boardroom @ 12.15 p.m.)
2 Closed business: Members were informed about anomalies
in salary scales. It is hoped to clarify all matters relating to pay by the end of this year.
© Copyright Community Relations Council 2013
Community Relations Council
6 Murray Street
Belfast
BT1 6DN
Tel: 028 9022 7500
