Northern Ireland Community Relations Council - About Us - Press Releases - Building a Shared Future: Community Relations Week

01 February 2001

Building a Shared Future: Community Relations Week

"Community Relations activities are now more effective than ever before, and are happening in ways and in places that would have been unthinkable a few years ago."

So says Mark Adair, Director of the Community Relations Council's European Programme. He makes the comments as the Community Relations Council launches over 80 events across Northern Ireland as part of Community Relations Week, from 2^nd to 9th February.

Over 70 community and voluntary organisations are staging community relations events over the next week as part of the programme, whose theme is 'Building A Shared Future'. All the projects are funded by the Community Relations Council under its core-funding and European programmes.

Among the many organisations staging events are victim supports groups, arts and sports projects, community associations and church groups. The Nerve Centre in L'Derry for example, will next week be staging a Celebration of Culture consisting of an interactive multi-media extravaganza on community relations themes. In Belfast the critically acclaimed youth drama group, Kids in Control, will be presenting the first glimpse of their new performance 'Nerve Storm- An identity drama collage'. In Newtownabbey the Women's Information Group will be staging a play called 'One Night in February' on the theme of bullying.

There will also be numerous opportunities for discussion and debate, from Springfield Inter-Community Development Association's 'Two Sides of The Same Coin' about the future of interface communities to a Women's Day discussion in Lisburn on women's contribution to peacebuilding and reconciliation.

"Community Relations Week is a snapshot of community relations activity, a week in the life of the people of Northern Ireland," says Mark Adair. " The events of this week happen 52 weeks of the year and are an indication of the energy and resourcefulness of ordinary people in seeking peaceful and constructive ways of dealing with conflict. The Community Relations Council has provided the infrastructure but the efforts and the imagination have come from ordinary citizens working at community level. The Week is a tribute to them and many like them who are trying to build a shared future."

The Week will be launched at the offices of the Community Relations Council on Thursday morning at 10.00 am by the Council Chairman, Dr Jonathan Bardon. Copies of the Week's programme have been distributed throughout Northern Ireland. Copies can be found here...

For further information contact:
Jane Wells or Dorothy Hawe at 028 9047 1282
or
Ray Mullan, CRC Director of Communications tel 028 90 227500