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05 February 2007

The Community Relations Council has today called on all political parties in Northern Ireland to highlight good relations issues in their election manifestos.

Party Manifesto Call

The Community Relations Council has today called on all political parties in Northern Ireland to highlight good relations issues in their election manifestos.

In a letter sent to all the parties Dr Duncan Morrow, CRC’s Chief Executive, states that

‘We are at a unique time in our history- and our politicians now have the opportunity to fully embrace the goal of a shared future and work together to transform and regenerate our whole society.’

Dr Morrow adds, ‘It is important that parties dedicate themselves to addressing the legacy of the past and building trust within our community. We urge them to use the identified priorities as campaign issues. People want to see change on the ground, and we believe our politicians want to deliver these changes.’

The Council’s call lists ten priorities which the parties are asked to adopt.

1. Implement A Shared Future -  The Government’s community relations strategy A Shared Future introduced in 2005 needs to be made more than aspiration. Politicians are asked to take ownership of it and use it to effect real change.
2. Create a culture of tolerance -   Living with others is an integral part of modern life and CRC asks politicians to examine policy areas in detail for opportunities to contribute to positive change. In particular CRC identifies Education, Housing, Planning for Public Spaces, Economic Development and Poverty.
3. Emphasise Equality, Good Relations and Human Rights as mutually dependent rather than in competition with each other.
4. Ensure that the Review of Public Administration (RPA) places full civic participation and good relations at the core of local government and community planning.
5. Allocate sufficient Public Expenditure resources  to promote cohesion, sharing and integration.
6. Develop cross-community work with young people to build a culture of interdependence, interaction and sharing.      
7. Address the continuing needs of Victims and Survivors of violence and take responsibility for the injuries of the past.
8. Call for a public commitment to a large scale public relations campaign on anti-sectarianism, anti-racism and promoting good relations within Northern Ireland.
9. Provide political leadership that appeals to the whole community and not just one part of it.
10. Provide joined-up Government where Departments co-operate and communicate with each other. 

The Community Relations Council will continue to work with local community and voluntary organisations on the ground and with statutory bodies to build a shared future and looks forward to working with all the parties on these important issues over the next few weeks.

For further information contact

Ray Mullan, CRC Director of Communications, tel 02890-227500

Email rmullan@nicrc.org.uk

The letter states:

To:                  Political Parties

                       Policy Units

2 February 2007

From: Community Relations Council Northern Ireland

6 Murray Street

Belfast, BT1 6DN

Issue: Manifesto Policy Priorities

 The Community Relations Council (CRC) would like to highlight a number of priorities for the consideration of all parties and elected representatives in shaping their manifestos.

The main goal for Council is building and developing community and good relations. We have been heartened that government has begun to acknowledge its responsibilities in this area while more and more community and voluntary groups seek funding to continue this work at local level.  It is important that these efforts continue and are supported at all levels within our society. 

For CRC, building trust is the issue in Northern Ireland.  We are at a unique time in our history and our politicians now have the opportunity to fully embrace the goal of a shared future and work together to transform and regenerate our whole society. 

CRC Priorities

1. Implementation of A Shared Future.  The Community Relations Council welcomed the publication of ‘A Shared Future’ in 2005 which aims to tackle sectarianism across our society.  The Triennial Action Plan has subsequently provided initial details as to how Government intends to implement and monitor the strategy across the various government departments.  In the view of the CRC:

• A Shared Future needs to be more than an aspirational strategy; it has to effect real change.  Council asks all political parties to commit themselves fully to agreeing and implementing a comprehensive strategy for a shared future.
• Local political parties need to take ownership of the concept of a shared future for all.  The Triennial Action Plan was developed under direct rule.  The opportunity of devolution is that local people shape and own the concept, and devise actions that make a real difference to real lives.
• Power-sharing will truly reveal local leaders as A Shared Future Champions.  It is important that the strategy is robustly monitored and evaluated, and subject to amendments to improve delivery and outcomes.

Shared Future should have both North-South and East-West dimensions. 

1. Living with others is an integral part of modern life.  All modern societies are multiethnic and intercultural, so the real choice is whether we live together in a culture of tolerance or live apart in constant fear.  However, Northern Ireland is still very segregated especially in terms of where we live and where we are educated.  There are a number of critically important policy areas that need to be examined in detail and new directions formulated in order to make a real contribution to positive change.      

a.  Education:

• Council supports opportunities for increased sharing within the education sector.  We believe the recommendations from the Bain Review on collaboration and partnership provide new opportunities for increasing the types and level of interaction between the various school sectors.  This type of sharing must not be a tick box exercise, real collaboration must occur which takes account of different local needs especially in rural areas.   Council emphasises the need for political parties to support these new directions and ensure that implementation is a key priority for the Assembly. 
• Further consideration needs to be given to the area of teacher training and how to incorporate more fully the teaching of community and good relations and this should be a core aspect of their training.  There needs to be an assessment of the current teacher training delivery structures and an improvement of partnerships and collaboration at this level. 
• As well as structural changes it is essential that the curriculum meets the changing needs of our society.  Paul Connolly’s Research‘Too Young to Notice? The Cultural and Political Awareness of 3-6 Year Olds in Northern Ireland’ emphasizes the need to learn together to help combat the development of sectarian attitudes. [1]There are important opportunities for curricular engagement with difficult topics through history, religious education, languages, the arts and sport.  Respect, diversity and interdependence need to be core themes.  CRC would like to see further development of these alongside appropriate support for training teachers.   

b.  Housing.  The debate around housing continues.  In recent months the Housing Executive has supported the development of voluntary mixed communities, such as Carran Crescent in Enniskillen.  Unfortunately we still live in a highly segregated society.  CRC would like to reach a position where people have real and free choice about where they live regardless of their religious, political and or racial background.  Our priorities include:

c. Planning for Public Spaces.  Safety is crucial to a future for all, and is essential if long term confidence is to be built.  It is critical, that government develops a joined-up strategy to reduce the number of sectarian interfaces and to improve the quality of life for all those who live on them.  The shared usage of public space is to be supported.  Safe spaces, accessible by everyone, must include shared towns and city centres, shared public facilities, shared services and integrated transport. Only through shared opportunity can there be equal opportunities to experience and benefit from our recent transformation e.g. economic regeneration, new developments – shopping centres, leisure facilities. 

d.  Economic Development and Poverty:  Sharing is not an optional extra.  It is an essential element in a coherent regional economic strategy and in any attempt to alleviate poverty, especially at interface areas.  The Community Relations Council would like to see greater government recognition that violent division is a critical dimension of economic and social policy in Northern Ireland and needs to be taken seriously.  Furthermore, the important role played by inward migrants needs to be recognised and greater efforts made to ensure that full attention is paid to issues of integration and violence against members of minority groups.

• Equality, Good Relations and Human Rights are all important.  CRC believes that a strong emphasis should be placed on developing all of this work together, instead of being set against each other as competing constituencies.  All policy must seek to reduce inequalities.  CRC also wishes to see the creation of a Bill of Rights.  Review of Public Administration (RPA) & Community Planning – The goal of a shared future for all should be at the heart of the RPA.  Governance arrangements at local level must ensure local civic pride, full civic participation and good relations needs to be at the core of community plans.  The RPA represents a major opportunity to mainstream development towards a shared, equal, diverse and interdependent society.
• Comprehensive Spending Review– It is critical that public expenditure in coming years provides sufficient resources to promote and support cohesion, sharing and integration, especially in those areas that will enable Northern Ireland to deliver the government priorities as set out in A Shared Future, the Racial Equality Strategy and the Independent Strategic Review of Education. In addition the CSR should incentivise sharing, as foreseen in the Triennial Action Plan of A Shared Future.
• A Shared Future for young people– One of the most glaring policy gaps in many communities is a joined up approach to developing and enhancing young people’s potential.  Youth work and the Strategy for Children and Young People need to be informed by the principles of A Shared Future, building a culture of interdependence, interaction and sharing.  Existing models of good practice need to be identified and applied across Northern Ireland.  Area based planning is required to ensure that gaps are identified  and carried out across formal and informal youth work on a cross community basis.  Training for all youth workers needs to include inter-cultural and inter-community themes and skills development. 
• Victims and survivors – Political parties must address the continuing needs of victims and survivors of violence offering comprehensive support to both individuals and support groups.  Taking responsibility for the injuries of the past is a crucial part of the peace process which cannot be forgotten.
• Campaigning for A Shared Future.  CRC would like to see a public commitment to a large scale public relations campaign around the theme of anti-sectarianism, anti-racism, good relations/diversity within Northern Ireland.  Crucial to these campaigns will be an acknowledgment of the damage done by ‘hate crime’. According to the recent report from the Chief Inspector of Justice Kit Chivers, ‘90% of sectarian hate crime goes unsolved.  Furthermore, sectarian hate crime constitutes the largest proportion of hate crime in NI’.[3] There is a need to continue to raise public awareness emphasising that there is a role for everyone.
  Political Leadership As leaders of the community, elected representatives set the tone around the quality of public debate and acceptable behaviour.  The greatest contribution to a shared future would be a successful and co-operative local executive.  CRC would like to see the appointment of good relations champions in parties and across key policy areas. We continue to witness a ‘one for us and one for you’ approach around too many policy areas.  Strategies and funding must be targeted on the basis of need and should be pro-active, not reactive. 

10.       Joined Up Government

In a successful executive, Government Departments will need to co-operate pro-actively.  Too many strategies cut across without practical reference to each other. Outcomes and delivery mechanisms are unclear, and it is uncertain where accountability rests.  CRC would like to see all parties commit to mainstreaming A Shared Future throughout all government policies as an essential overarching principle.   It is especially important that the Assembly commits itself to monitoring and evaluating strategies to ensure that action plans are designed, implemented and amended where necessary.  The delays that have emerged in developing and implementing action plans over recent years are far from encouraging.  For example, the Children and Young People’s Strategy launched mid 2006 still has no action plan. 

[1] Paul Connolly’s research ‘Too Young to Notice? The Cultural and Political Awareness of 3-6 Year Olds in Northern Ireland’.   This research counteracts the widely held belief that young children have no sense of cultural differences and showed for the first time the significant affect that cultural and political influence has on the awareness and behaviour of 3-6 year-olds in Northern Ireland. The report also demonstrates the increased likelihood of children to identify with a particular community as they grow older and significantly, to make sectarian statements or take actions accordingly. 

[2] Shared Education is a priority area for A Shared Future and two of its main objectives are “Developing opportunities for shared and intercultural education at all levels – nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary; and all schools should ensure through their policies, structures and curriculae, that pupils are consciously prepared for a life in a diverse and intercultural society and world”.[2]

[3]News Letter Tuesday 16 January 2007.