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17 January 2012

Article published in the News Letter, Tuesday 17 Jan 2012 Chief Commissioner Bob Collins’ final ‘View from the Chair’

This is the last occasion on which I will contribute a View from the Chair as Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission. As well as expressing appreciation of the opportunity to raise issues in these columns each month, it may be timely to reflect on the world around us.

Much has changed in the six and a half years that I have been in this position. It would have been difficult to predict in 2005 that some of the individual changes would happen. To forecast that so many changes would have taken place within six years would have been inconceivable. With the exception of the sharp reversal of economic fortunes, most of the change has been positive and deep-seated, so much so that it is difficult to recall the world before decommissioning, before the devolution of policing and justice, before the stability of political structures and the increasing confidence of devolved government.

But one thing remains stubbornly resistant. That is the reality of division. Division – real, long-lasting, entrenched division – costs money, damages lives, erodes potential, is bad for business, delays economic recovery, prevents progress and is a barrier to good relations between people. And the tragedy is that division is not necessary.

Difference is a fact of life. It is more pronounced in Northern Ireland than in some places – although a great deal less than in others. But difference need not result in division. We have to learn to live with our differences; to acknowledge different traditions and different views of the world; to respect those from whom we differ; and to be able, openly and calmly, to discuss our differences.

We must learn how to accommodate to difference; how to accept expressions of identity that are not our own; to respect our own identities by not using them as marks of separateness or as badges of provocation; and to recognise that the instinctive response of yesterday is not appropriate for today. This is not an easy task. But it is a task on which many people are already engaged. Even as I write these words, groups from across the community in Derry-Londonderry and in Belfast are taking a stand against sectarian attacks. There is some comfort in the fact that what might have been commonplace a decade ago now evokes such strong and concerted response.

Workplaces have achieved a great deal in creating places of shared engagement. Not every issue is resolved but if every other area of life had as much progress to proclaim as has employment, we might have fewer problems to overcome. All who played any part in creating those shared spaces must consolidate what has been secured and replicate that achievement in all other aspects of their lives.

The change that has been wrought in recent years has not happened by accident. The positive forces that made that change possible are at work all around us. People across Northern Ireland are showing leadership in myriad ways in their own lives, their own neighbourhoods. The challenge is for everybody - parents, teachers and those in positions of responsibility in every domain of life - to remain committed and engaged with reshaping our society. The price is worth the paying for the prize is incalculable.

Community Relations Council

Division and Difference