MOVEMENT OF POPULATION UNDER THREAT
The tragedies of the past have left a deep and profoundly regrettable
legacy of suffering. We must never forget those who have died or been
injured, and their families. But we can best honour them through a
fresh start, in which we firmly dedicate ourselves to the achievement
of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust, and to the protection
and vindication of the human rights of all.
(The Belfast Agreement, Declaration of Support, Paragraph 2)
We reaffirm our total and absolute commitment to exclusively
democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences on political
issues, and our opposition to any use or threat of force by others for
any political purpose, whether in regard to this agreement or
otherwise.
(The Belfast Agreement, Declaration of Support, Paragraph 4)
A Paper Prepared for Lord Laird of Artigarvan
CONTENTS
1. Summary of Proposals
2. Introduction
3. Background
4. Problems
5. Proposals
6. Conclusions
SUMMARY OF PROPOSALS
The biggest movement of population under threat in Western Europe
since the end of the Second World War occurred in Northern Ireland
between 1970 and 2000. The problems caused by this movement of
population are still with us. This is still an on-going problem and
has not been acknowledged or addressed by government. The following
proposals are recommended to address this problem.
A Minister with special responsibility for threatened communities
should be appointed to co-ordinate a cross-departmental programme
working within the constraints of a strategic plan and an annual
business plan.
A special working group should be set up under the Minister with
Special Responsibility for Threatened Communities to aid the
regeneration of the minority Protestant community in the city of
Londonderry.
An independent report be prepared to prepare accurate measurement of
the movement of population since 1970.
Schemes for residential community policemen and neighbourhood watch
should be introduced and managed by government.
Alternative transport arrangements should be made for children
subjected to sectarian abuse and bullying or that school buses be
supervised where necessary.
The current policy of Targeting Social Need should be revised to
include those fragile communities under threat to ensure their
continuing viability.
Home improvement grants that have been discontinued should be made
available again to returnees for a period of time to facilitate catch
up
Agricultural grants, that have been discontinued, should be
re-introduced for a period of time to facilitate catch up by
returnees.
Measures should be taken to re-open small rural schools, post-offices
and establish school bus runs in those areas where returnees and the
local community wish to regenerate their community.
Development controls should be relaxed in areas where it will aid the
sustainability of threatened or fragile communities.
Area Plans prepared by the Planning Service should include strategies
that aid the rebuilding of fragile communities.
A programme to provide community centres/activity centres should be
started with in threatened communities to make leisure facilities
available to them. Colleges of Further Education should provide their
courses at centres other than the main college campus to reach these
excluded communities. These services should be screened in accordance
with the procedures specified in Section 75 to ensure that equality of
opportunity is delivered.
Equality legislation should be relaxed in the relation to the buying
and selling of property within communities under threat.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive should be empowered and funded
to provide public housing for returnees.
Special measures should be taken to build up the voluntary and
community sectors within threatened communities.
Special measures, including grant aid for the preparation of community
development plans, should be put in place to build up the voluntary
and community sectors within threatened communities.
A special sub fund from the Peace II should be set up to finance
capacity building for the voluntary and community sector in
communities under threat.
A special programme of measures is required to promote local economic
regeneration and job creation in the communities under threat. This
should include grant support for communities to formally organise
themselves and engage professional consultants to prepare strategic
economic regeneration plans.
Government Departments and public bodies should be obliged to work
with local communities to deliver on local economic regeneration and
job creation initiatives to stabilise these communities. Area plans
should ensure that the objectives of the proposals treat all sections
of the community equally.
A special funding initiative is required to support cultural officers
and cultural programmes to give threatened communities self-confidence
and self esteem both on a community and individual level.
The disproportionately low level of attention given by human rights
bodies to the plight of threatened communities should be highlighted
and challenged.
The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister should
ensure that civil service Departments and local authorities deliver
equitable treatment between the two indigenous minority languages,
that is Irish and Ulster-Scots in accordance with the Programme for
Government.
Public service broadcasting should be subject to the Equality
Obligations of Section 75 with the objective of delivering a cross
community and cultural balance in public service programming that is
community inclusive.
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Introduction
Feargal Keane, the BBC Panorama journalist, reported in 1990 on the
situation in the Moy in County Tyrone. He highlighted the violence
against the Protestant population in the town. This broke new ground
in the reporting of news stories from Northern Ireland. For the first
time a nationwide programme on TV showed the Protestant community as
victims. The programme reported on the Miller’s Hill Orange Hall burnt
down after a sectarian attack, the graves of sixteen male Protestants
murdered in the Moy and buried in the graveyard of the local Church of
Ireland parish church and the attacks on Drumglass school children.
In 1970 the village of Moy was fifty percent Roman Catholic and fifty
percent Protestant. In 1999 the Moy is almost one hundred percent
Roman Catholic. A small residual population of elderly Protestant
pensioners remains. They live mainly in public housing without the
financial means to move to an area where they would be more accepted.
There is increasing pressure on the residual Protestant population to
leave the Moy. There are regular attacks property especially at
weekends. They are carried out at a low level, i.e. window breaking,
and so are rarely reported in the papers. The persistence of these
attacks and the lack of official action and concern leaves residents
with no other option than to move out of their homes and seek to live
with their co-religionists in more welcoming areas.
A study of the Moy will reveal the classic method that is used to
instill fear in a small community and force them out of a local area.
It is an example of what has happened in many other towns and villages
across Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland since 1970 there has been the largest movement of
population under threat anywhere in Western Europe since 1945 and the
end of the Second World War. Only in the former Yugoslavia in Eastern
Europe has there been bigger movements of population. Western Europe
has recognised the human rights issues involved in the Balkans and
taken steps to address them. The human rights issues relating to the
forced movement of population in Northern Ireland have been hardly
acknowledged and little done to address them. It is surprising that
this was not one of the key issues addressed in the Belfast Agreement
considering the large number of citizens affected by it. There has
been a political cost to the community for this omission. It was
totally omitted from the Agreement while the rights of prisoners was
addressed and has made the Agreement less acceptable to many people.
There are implications for both the Human Rights Commission and the
Equality Commission in this situation. Both have failed to address
these issues.
Government is now considering an amnesty for fugitive terrorists
including those guilty of crimes against the civilian population. "The
prime Minister has promised Sinn Fein that he will introduce
legislation after the general election which will absolve IRA members
of crimes committed before 1998" (Sunday Times, 11 March 2001).
In Kosovo the NATO allies agreed that people should be allowed to
return to their towns and villages, that there should be a programme
of aid to support reconstruction and that arms should be taken out of
society. To date there has not been a similar commitment to help
people here who have been forced out of their homes, towns and
villages.
Government has not yet considered a programme to address the needs of
the civilians forced to leave their homes. Now almost three years
after the Agreement people are still leaving their home areas because
of threats. This issue is still unacknowledged and the displacement of
people is an on going problem. The disarming of paramilitaries is
linked to the issue of the forced movement of people and the building
up of confidence in threatened communities.
The forced movement and displacement of people occurs in three
distinct areas, each of which has its own special problems.
The City of Londonderry, which is a special case.
The small towns and villages.
Isolated settlements, that is farms, small hamlets and cross roads
clusters.
It is the purpose of this paper to highlight the nature and extent of
this problem and identify measures that should be taken to address it.
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Background
This section describes a selection of events which give an insight
into the underlying problems that has led to population movement.
Londonderry
In 1970 over 13,000 Protestants lived on Londonderry’s west bank. In
1999 there are less than 1,000 left. Protestant families used to live
in areas such as Glenbank, Shantallow, Rosemount, the Strand Road,
Buncrana Road, Culmore Road and the Northland Road. They have long
since fled these areas following sectarian attacks, including murders
and particularly the bomb attacks on Protestant businesses in the
1970s.
The residual Protestant population left on the west bank is crammed
into the Fountain Street estate where they are subject to regular on
going sectarian attack. School children from the Protestant community
are subject to attack when using public transport to travel to and
from school. Many parents have to collect their children in taxis from
the school gates and accompany them home to ensure their safety with
all the expense that that involves.
Coalisland
In 1970 over 870 Protestants families lived in Coalisland. In 2001
there are about 20 families left, less than 1% of the population.
Their churches, their businesses, their halls and meeting places used
for social and cultural functions have all been attacked. The Corn
Mill project in the town was funded as a cross community project. It
has not employed anyone from the Protestant community.
Fermanagh
The Protestant communities in Fermanagh have been subject to sectarian
violence and harrassment over the past thirty years. Less than ten per
cent of the murders carried out against the Protestant community along
the Fermanagh border have been solved. The derisively small number of
people made amenable for these crimes have been released under the
Belfast Agreement. The inability of Government to deal with this
violence has led to a movement of population. People have moved out of
Brookeborough, Maguiresbridge, Irvinestown, Lisnaskea, Newtownbutler
and Enniskillen. They have gone to the eastern counties of the
Province or into the fortress towns of Ballinamallard, Kesh and
Lisbellaw.
Garvaghy Road, Portadown
On the Garvaghy Road, Portadown 1600 Protestant families have left
over the years to live in more secure neighbourhoods. Violent groups
within the nationalist population on the Garvaghy Road are still
attempting to threaten Protestant families from their homes in the
Corcraine area and around Corcraine Orange Hall. There is an
unrelenting and ongoing systematic attempt to push the Protestant
residents in this area towards the east of the town and to enlarge the
area controlled by extreme elements within the catholic/nationalist
community.
Dunloy
Dunloy is another village where the local Protestant population has
been displaced. In the 1960s the village had a forty percent
Protestant population which has now gone.
Keady
In Keady the Protestant population has fallen from about fifty percent
in the 1960s to ten per cent.
Donaghmore
The last Protestant in one private estate in Donaghmore left after
Christmas 2000. His fifteen-year-old daughter, a pupil at Drumglass
High School, had been subject to daily sectarian abuse, both verbal
and physical, over a three period on the school bus. She was the only
Protestant travelling on the bus. For her sake the family have moved
to Killyman in Dungannon. Killyman is a largely Protestant area that
is now coming under pressure from the surrounding rural nationalist
population. The last large Protestant shop in Donaghmore was burnt out
last year. There are now only two small Protestant owned shops left in
Donaghmore. The Orange hall in Donaghmore has been burnt down three
times. Donaghmore used to have a population balance of fifty/fifty
catholic and Protestant but the Protestant population has fallen to
five percent and the town is now ninety five percent catholic.
Other Towns
There are about fifty towns and villages in Northern Ireland to-day
where the Protestant population has fallen between 1970 and 1999.
Included among these are Newcastle, Castlewellan, Kirkcubbin, Newry,
Strabane, Dungiven, Crumlin, Randalstown, Moneymore, Downpatrick,
Carnlough, Cookstown, Dungannon, Coalisland, Draperstown,
Stewartstown, Maghera, Omagh, Magherafelt, Kilrea, Armagh, Keady and
Bellaghy. In only one town, Carrickfergus, has there been a fall in
the Roman Catholic population.
Size of the Problem
Since 1970 an estimated 250,000 people within the Protestant community
have been forced out of various areas of Northern Ireland. That is
about one in four have moved under direct or indirect threats and
intimidation. While one in four have been directly affected many more
have been indirectly affected if relatives and friends are included.
This experience explains the concern within the Protestant community
over the possession of illegal weapons by paramilitary groups. So many
lives have been blighted by these guns.
The government has not helped when help was needed. Government
measures have reinforced and underpinned the actions of those
paramilitaries engaged in the displacement of people. Government has
made the situation worse with policies in education, planning,
agriculture and "equality" legislation. Government has hurt the
minority communities left in these areas and made them less viable.
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The Problems
Schools
The Department of Education closed many schools in "rationalisation"
programmes. In Castlewellan the local Protestant population has been
slowly pushed out of the town and some of the surrounding rural areas
largely through attacks on property. As their numbers declined
Government further undermined the community by closing some of the
rural primary schools and the local secondary school. This put further
pressure on an already struggling community. Local schools are
important in making small communities socially viable and holding them
together. School closures have undermined the viability of small
Protestant communities living under threat. If many of these
communities are to survive they need their schools reopened.
Farming
Many farms in threatened areas particularly in border areas have
remained for up to twenty five years unworked and unimproved The rest
of the farming community were able to take advantage of various grant
aided schemes to improve their farms. Most of these schemes have now
been withdrawn. To be able to compete commercially these farms need a
catch up programme to allow them to take advantage of the grants that
have been withdrawn.
Planning
In the City of Londonderry the Area Plan has acted to undermine the
viability of the Protestant community. This community lives on the
Waterside area, located on the east bank of the Foyle. The current
area plan largely ignores the needs of this area while addressing the
needs of the west bank in great detail. The difference in treatment is
visually apparent. The Waterside is run down and lacking in new
development and amenities. The west bank is pristine and a model of
progress attracting a disproportionately higher amount of new
investment and new jobs. Government planning needs to be more fair and
equitable in its approach. It also should take account of the special
needs of communities under threat and at risk.
Equality Legislation
The government’s new equality legislation on the supply of goods and
services will outlaw the sale of land and property solely within one
religious community. This legislation takes no account of the
situation that many Protestants cannot for reasons of safety bid for
land, properties or businesses outside their local community area. Yet
one of the ways that threatened rural Protestant communities at risk
can survive and remain as viable communities is by selling and keeping
land and property within the local community. There is an unanswerable
case for these threatened communities to be exempt from this
legislation. A precedent for this legal exemption in special
circumstances already exists. The schools in the Catholic Maintained
Sector have some exemption from fair employment laws because of the
confessional qualification required by teachers working in these
schools.
Community Relations
The Community relations programme has ignored the existence of these
communities and this problem yet the intimidation of these communities
is a major factor that undermines good community relations. A special
initiative to address this problem needs to be put in place and made a
high priority by government. This would involve a body with sufficient
resources, legal powers, and transparency of operation, local
accountability and published targets.
Returnees
Retired members of the police, prison service, and the armed services
and their families face a special problem. For example in Londonderry
many young men in the 60s and 70s joined these services in many cases
because these were the only employment opportunities available to
them. These men are now coming up to retirement age and many wish to
return to their home locality and join their remaining family members.
They cannot because of paramilitary threat. Limavady, Eglinton and
Coleraine have many people in this category that cannot go back to
their home town of Londonderry.
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PROPOSALS
The three distinctive situations where people were and still are
subject to forced movement are:
Londonderry
Communities living in towns and villages
Dispersed rural communities on farms and isolated rural dwellings.
Proposals to address these situations are set out below and cover the
following areas that need to be addressed:
Government administration
Funding
Community safety
Rebuilding physical infrastructure
Community capacity building
Economic regeneration and job creation
Cultural pluralism and human rights
Government Administration
Minister with Special Responsibility for Threatened Communities
The total programme of support required to ensure the survival and
viability of threatened communities crosses the boundaries of many
government departments i.e. Education, Agriculture, Regional
Development, Higher and Further Education, Economic Development and
Health. A minister with special responsibility to co-ordinate and
deliver the programme is required. The total programme of support
should be written up as a business plan with annual targets, which are
measurable and can be monitored. The minister and his team should be
required to issue an annual report on progress made against set
targets.
It is proposed that a Minister with special responsibility for
threatened communities be appointed to co-ordinate a cross
departmental programme working within the constraints of a strategic
plan and an annual business plan.
Special Working Group for Londonderry
Londonderry is a special case because no other town or city in western
Europe has experienced such a large movement of population under
threat since the ending of the second world war. A special working
group comprising representatives from all the main parties working
together on this problem would send out a very powerful message of
reconciliation. It would also help to inspire confidence in the
minority population who have suffered so much and reassure them that
they have a future in the city.
It is proposed that a special working group be set up under the
Minister with Special Responsibility for Threatened Communities to aid
the regeneration of the minority Protestant community in the city.
Independent Report
An independent report based on up to date research is required to
establish an up to date baseline of the numbers of people who have
been displaced and the areas where displacement has occurred since
1970. This baseline should be used to monitor the annual business plan
targets. It should also look at the effect on community relations and
review existing public policies and their impact on the problem of
displacement.
It is proposed that an independent report be prepared to prepare
accurate measurement of the movement of population since 1970.
Community Safety
Residential Community Policeman
The RUC should initiate a community policeman scheme to give added
support and reassurance to communities under threat. This would entail
individual members of the RUC living in and with communities under
threat to build confidence within the community. The operational
duties of such policemen would remain unchanged. The benefit in the
scheme is that the police would be integrating themselves into
threatened communities. To complement this government should put in
place a support scheme to facilitate the setting up of formal
community watch schemes in threatened communities.
It is proposed that schemes for residential community policemen and
neighbourhood watch be introduced and managed by government.
Safe Transport Arrangements for School Children
The safety of school of children is a big concern for people living in
these communities especially where children travel on a school bus
with children from other schools. There are many instances of children
being subjected to regular verbal and physical sectarian abuse. This
problem needs to be addressed. As already indicated in Section 2 some
parents in Londonderry have to collect their children from school in
taxis because of sectarian threats at the bus station.
It is proposed that alternative transport arrangements are made for
children subjected to sectarian abuse and bullying or that school
buses be supervised where necessary.
Physical Infrastructure
Inclusion in Targeting Social Need
The current policy of targeting social need should be revised to
include those fragile communities under threat to ensure their
continuing viability.
Home Improvement Grants
The withdrawal of home improvement grants that were available to
people in the 70s, 80s and 90s is a bar to the regeneration of border
communities especially where people are returning to farms which may
have been abandoned for up to 20 years. Many people were unable to
apply for these grants when they were available.
It is proposed that these grants be made available again to returnees
for a period of time to facilitate catch up.
Agricultural Grants
Like home improvement grants many agricultural improvement grants that
were also available in the 70s, 80s and 90s and have been withdrawn.
Now that people are returning to their farms they need to be able to
access these grants. The infrastructure on these farms needs to be
brought up to a level similar to those neighbouring farms where people
were not under threat. This is necessary if farms are to be viable
again and if returnee farmers are to be able to compete on an equal
basis with their neighbours in a very competitive agricultural sector.
Farmers who have been unable to work their land for fear of violence
or threatened violence should not be penalised or put at a
disadvantage.
It is proposed that agricultural grants be re-introduced for a period
of time to facilitate catch up by returnees.
Community Facilities
The most important facilities in any community are the churches, the
local school, supermarket/shops and the local hospital or clinic. In
areas where there has been population movement schools have been shut
down both primary and secondary, small rural post offices have been
closed and the local GP service or clinic has gone. The non provision
of these services, which are essential to viability of a small local
community, are a bar to the re-establishment of communities where
people wish to return. Adequate school bus provision is also important
to these small communities. This is a particular problem in border
areas where there is a dispersed settlement pattern of farms and
isolated rural dwellings.
It is proposed that measures be taken to re-open small rural schools,
post-offices and establish school bus runs in those areas where
returnees and the local community wish to regenerate their community.
Planning Issues
Development control and the proposals in area plans has impacted
negatively on fragile threatened communities. The application of
strict controls on building in the countryside has made it difficult
for threatened communities to sustain themselves. Young people are
forced to leave the land and settle in local towns or go further
afield. Controls on rural development should be relaxed where they
have a negative effect on the viability and sustainability of
threatened communities.
It is proposed that development controls be relaxed in areas where it
will aid the sustainability of threatened or fragile communities.
Area plans do not take account of these communities. It is sometimes
the case that area plan proposals undermine the viability and
sustainability of threatened communities. The current area plan for
Londonderry takes little account of the Waterside area. The major
thrust of the plan is to further build up and enhance the west bank
which is already well developed. The Waterside is run down and has
fewer facilities in comparison to the City side of the Foyle. Many of
the Protestant population forced out of the west bank of the Foyle
settled in the Waterside.
There was a very strong case for making special provision for the
Waterside community after their experience but this did not happen.
Special provision now needs to made for the Waterside, which is a
fragile community, to allow it to catch up with the west bank in the
provision of facilities and public infrastructure. Area plans need to
take account of these fragile communities and develop proposals for
their viability and sustainability.
It is proposed that Area Plans prepared by the Planning Service build
in strategies that aid the rebuilding of fragile communities.
Access to Recreational, Social, Cultural and Educational Facilities
Many threatened communities cannot use local authority facilities
because their young people suffer sectarian abuse, both physical and
verbal, when they leave their own areas to access community facilities
. Dungannon is a typical example where the young people cannot access
the town centre after 6.00 pm and have limited access to Council
leisure facilities.
Altnaveigh House Cultural Society carried out a Social Audit to
identify the problems and aspirations of the Protestant community in
the Newry area. The survey discovered that few Protestants made
regular use of many Council recreational, social and cultural
facilities. Over 70% did not use these facilities at all and most
stated that they would not do so due to the "feelings of intimidation"
and "an atmosphere of being unwelcome".
The location of the Sports Centre, some playing fields and other
facilities in sections of the Newry area which were seen as being
unsafe for Protestants was given as a major reason for not using the
services. Some respondents used services in other council areas rather
than the Newry & Mourne Council facilities.
This "chill factor" also applied to adult and continuing educational
provision. Many respondents expressed an interest in following courses
of study for recreation or self-development but were unwilling to
attend the local College of Further Education due to its location and
to past experiences of violence and intimidation that occurred there.
It is proposed that a programme of provision of community
centres/activity centres is started with in threatened communities to
make leisure facilities available to them. Colleges of Further
Education should provide their courses at centres other than the main
college campus to reach these excluded communities. These services
should be screened in accordance with the procedures specified in
Section 75 to ensure that equality of opportunity is delivered.
Equality Legislation
In areas where communities are under threat and population is
declining it is important that the local population is stabilised. To
facilitate this it is recommended that the sale of property within the
local community is permitted. This will require that equality
legislation in relation to the buying and selling of property is
relaxed in these areas. Implicit in the legislation is the assumption
that people can safely live and engage in business in their own
locality. It does not take into account that people from local
minority communities are unable to buy property outside their
community of co-religionists for reasons of safety.
It is proposed that equality legislation is relaxed in the relation to
the buying and selling of property within communities under threat.
Housing Support for Resettlement of Returnees
Many people wish to return to home areas that they had previously
left. Some of these returnees include middle aged people who left at
the start of the troubles to go and work in Britain or elsewhere. Some
of them may have served in the armed forces.
A programme of public housing provision in areas that are or were
previously under threat is needed to accommodate these people.
It is proposed that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive be
empowered and funded to provide public housing for returnees.
Capacity Building in Threatened Communities
Voluntary and Community Sector Capacity
Direct rule governments built up the community and voluntary sector in
the nationalist communities in the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s. Similar
support was not given to the Protestant communities. Currently there
is an imbalance in the extent and strength of voluntary sector
activity within the two main religio-political communities.
There is little capacity within the Protestant communities to access
funding for community initiatives. Recent reports prepared by Peter
Quinn on North Belfast and Fermanagh show a low level of uptake for
external funding for voluntary and community work within the
Protestant community. The reports also highlight the lack of capacity
within those communities to take advantage of this funding. Now there
is an urgent need for an initiative to systematically build up a
similar capacity within Protestant communities. This is especially
needed within communities under threat to help stabilise them and make
them more sustainable.
It is proposed that special measures, including grant aid for the
preparation of community development plans, be put in place to build
up the voluntary and community sectors within threatened communities.
Peace and Reconciliation Funds: Special Sub Fund
To aid these communities to develop capacity for voluntary and
community work and cultural programmes help needs to be provided to
access external funders.
A special sub fund from the Peace II should be set up to finance
capacity building for the voluntary and community sector in
communities under threat.
Economic Regeneration/Job Creation
In threatened communities many small businesses have had to close
because of the movement of population. Other businesses have suffered
because they have been subject to sectarian boycott that is still on
going. The closure of many businesses and the down sizing of others
has made it difficult for many to gain employment and forced people to
move away to look for work. Economic regeneration and job creation is
essential to give these communities long term hope.
A special programme of measures is required to promote local economic
regeneration and job creation in the communities under threat. This
should include grant support for communities to formally organise
themselves and engage professional consultants to prepare strategic
plans.
Government planning has also had an impact on employment. In
Londonderry for example the area plan has concentrated on the
development of the west bank where many of the new employment
opportunities are being created. The west bank is not a welcoming area
for Protestants. They are therefore missing out on jobs. The planning
authorities must take account of the unequal impact on the community
of its policies particularly in relation to employment and the
viability of communities under threat.
It is proposed that local communities should be facilitated to
commission consultants to prepare local regeneration plans. Government
Departments and public bodies should be obliged to work with local
communities to deliver on local economic regeneration and job creation
initiatives to stabilise these communities. Area plans should ensure
that the consequences of the proposals treat all sections of the
community equally.
Cultural Pluralism and Human Rights.
Cultural Activity and Cultural Heritage
Cultural activity and the expression of traditional culture and all
aspects of cultural heritage are important in building up a
community’s sense of itself. It is also important to lift both
community and individual self-esteem and self- confidence to maintain
a sustainable community. An initiative should be developed to help
these communities achieve this. The provision of full time cultural
officers with expertise to organise and access existing funding
opportunities are required to support an active and thriving cultural
programme for these communities.
A special funding initiative is required to support cultural officers
and cultural programmes to give threatened communities self confidence
and self esteem on a community and individual level.
Paramilitary Violence and Human Rights
Paramilitary violence has been a potent factor threatening small
communities. Human rights bodies such as the Northern Ireland Human
Rights Commission and the Committee on the Administration of Justice
have put a disproportionately low amount of effort into highlighting
breaches of human by paramilitaries. Paramilitary groups commit the
vast majority of human rights abuses.
One reason for not pursuing paramilitary breaches of human rights is
the belief that it will achieve little. Pressure on government is seen
to be more productive. The danger of this approach is that little
attention is paid to paramilitary violence and its effects. It is
important that human rights bodies highlight paramilitary breaches and
use the power of shame to create and increase an environment of
rejection against them even if this produces few tangible results.
The peaceful and law abiding community who bear the brunt of the
violence require this as an acknowledgement of their suffering. They
should be able to count on the support of human rights groups to
highlight their situation because they are serious human rights
problems.
The disproportionately low level of attention given by human rights
bodies to the plight of threatened communities should be highlighted
and challenged.
Cultural Inclusion
Cultural inclusion is important. Communities under threat and pressure
do not need the added problem of being culturally excluded by either
local authorities or policies of the government Departments
administered by the Assembly in Belfast. This exclusion by public
bodies gives out a powerful negative message to people that may
influence them to leave Northern Ireland and seek a more welcoming
environment. This is most obviously seen in the exodus of young
students from Protestant homes opting for universities over the water
mainly in Scotland. Government departments and local authorities need
to review their policies, practices and procedures to remove all those
chill factors which exclude. Much of what local authorities do breach
their obligations under Section 75 to promote equality of opportunity
and good community relations.
Newry and Mourne Council has a bi-lingual policy for the promotion of
the Irish language but it has no policy in relation to Ulster-Scots.
This is reflected in the allocation of funding for the two minority
languages. The Council in 2000/2001 has a budget of £100,000 for the
promotion of the Irish language and a budget of £2,000 for
Ulster-Scots. For ten years The Council has funded the Irish but this
is the first year it has spent any money on Ulster-Scots. The
administration of Ulster-Scots activities are carried out by the
Council’s Irish language officer so that the Ulster-Scots tradition is
further disadvantaged by a lack of expertise and knowledge in the
delivery of the service.
Derry City Council has a programme of promoting Irish and Gaelic
identity that finds ready support and empathy within the nationalist
community. There is no parallel programme dealing with language and
identity with which the unionist or Protestant community can identify.
This is a large chill factor in a situation where the Protestant
minority is under many other pressures of exclusion.
The Departments of Health and Education have bi-lingual policies
relating to the use of English and Irish. Ulster-Scots is excluded.
These departments are required to deliver their services to the whole
community but bi-lingual badging of the Departments and the services
they deliver is not consistent with this requirement. It also breaches
the commitments made in the Programme for Government. A tri-lingual
policy inclusive of Ulster-Scots is required to deliver these
commitments.
It is proposed that the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First
Minister should ensure that local authorities and civil service
Departments ensure equitable treatment between the two languages, that
is Irish and Ulster-Scots in accordance with the Programme for
Government.
Public Service Broadcasting and Cultural Exclusion
A community under threat is even more dispirited when the broadcast
media exclude its culture from the programming schedules. Public
service broadcasting is paid for out of public funds. There is
therefore a duty to deliver a public broadcasting service equally to
all sections of the community reflecting the plurality of the
listening/viewing audience. This service is not provided on a balanced
cross community and culturally inclusive basis when the following is
considered:
Irish language programming/Ulster-Scots,
Commissioning of local writers, (Ronan Bennett, Gary Mitchell)
Portrayal, i.e. most of the TV drama put out by BBC NI hardly
acknowledges the existence of the unionist community
Folk music programmes i.e. Irish folk music: Scots/Ulster-Scots folk
music
Current affairs programmes themes/topics do not reflect a cross
community balance of interests.
The televising of traditional community activities does not reflect a
cross community balance of interests i.e. GAA/traditional parades
Representation on broadcasting committees does not reflect a cross
community, multi cultural balance.
It is proposed that public service broadcasting be subject to the
equality obligations of Section 75 with the objective of delivering a
cross community and culturally inclusive public service programming.
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Conclusion
The Agreement
The Agreement tackled the many issues on the nationalist agenda but it
largely ignored those issues of concern to the unionist community. The
vexed issue of forced population movement is a core issue that impacts
heavily on the Protestant/unionist community, was not addressed within
the Agreement. Those paramilitaries who engaged in ethnic cleansing
will have their achievements consolidated and legitimised by the
Agreement. The effects of population displacement must not be allowed
to become permanent if the Agreement is to live up to its promises on
tolerance, respect and human rights. There are still many areas in
Northern Ireland where people feel threatened or unwanted on the
grounds of their religious, political or national identity. There is
an urgent need for the pro Agreement parties along with national
Government to now tackle this issue and resolve it, outside the
Agreement, if they wish to retain credibility for the Agreement.
Hard Questions
There are hard questions to be asked about human rights, the
implementation of equality legislation and community relations policy.
How can the Government commitment to human rights be taken seriously
when a massive issue like this, which affects so many people, is
ignored. The NIHRC in their Strategic Plan 2000-2002 ignore this issue
in favour of much less significant issues such as the effect on
communities in Northern Ireland of the policing of parades.
The Equality Commission have an important role to play in addressing
this issue but to date they have not acknowledged that the problem
even exists.
The poisonous effect of this on community relations is obvious but the
Government’s community relations policy does not recognise it and
takes no account of it.
Government must:
Recognise that this is a serious issue for the sustainability of the
Agreement.
Recognise that this is a serious issue for human rights and the NIHRC,
the Equality Commission and for the promotion of good community
relations.
Recognise the three distinct areas in which the problem occurs and
give support to those fragile communities.
Help people return to their homes and live where they desire
Introduce policy and administrative initiatives to support returnees.
Remove the chill factors that mitigate against returnees.
Government should move quickly to address this issue and implement the
proposals contained in this paper.
