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With the conclusion of my posts on The Posse Comitatus, I will no longer be posting on this site. I will continue to post and archive my material on my own site at
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Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Chairman: I thank all the delegates for their attendance today and for being so open and frank in their presentations. I also thank the members of the committee for the range of questions. We had a very wide-ranging debate and I think we have learned much about the issues being faced by people at the grassroots level. This committee can help to raise awareness about these issues. I suggest that a transcript of today’s proceedings be sent to the Taoiseach and he can pass it on to the commemoration committee which he is forming.

I will ask Senator McAleese to make some concluding remarks.

Senator Martin McAleese: I believe we should reflect on what is meant by the peace process. It is simply a process and not something we can say is finished today or will be finished tomorrow nor can one put a full stop at the end of it. This process will continue on into the future. We have achieved much and there are elements of completion which we will achieve over the next year to five years. However, there are other issues which may take generations to complete.

We have to ensure that the peace process is fully inclusive. We have heard today that it does not percolate right down to every individual and every community. If we do not ensure this inclusivity, there is a danger of a drift towards it being a middle class peace process and some people would argue there are signs this is happening already. If this were to happen and if people were left outside of the process, we are simply sowing the seeds that will grow and develop and come back in the future to ambush us all out of the long grass.

There must be a building of a robust and strong relationship between republicanism and loyalism. I think we are seeing this in play today. Significant work has been done to develop that relationship and we should encourage it, resource it and ensure it happens. It is in all our interests to see a development of that strong relationship.

This leads to my final point regarding the centenary anniversaries which we have discussed. If we can get through these next ten years by adding value to the peace process, I think we can secure peace for generations and centuries but if we do not succeed, we run the risk of unravelling some of what we have managed to achieve. This would be a bad thing. If we do not do all we can to complete the peace process, the next generation, our children looking back at us, would rightly ask why we did not do that when we had the opportunity. They would ask why we left it to them to pick up the pieces again, the pieces that we could have prevented from falling apart. Those are the broad issues of the peace process.

I take the point made by Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. The problems in an inner city area in any city, be it Belfast, Dublin, New York, London, are all the same. The socio-economic issues are exactly the same. The difference in Belfast is there has been a confusion or a further layering of sectarianism and a legacy of hatred, mistrust and suspicion. Speakers have alluded to the big question which is how to deal with sectarianism, how to decommission sectarianism. This is a very big challenge for all of us. In my view sectarianism can only be emasculated, so to speak, by building the relationships, showing respect, being inclusive and open to the sensitivities and dignity of others. This meeting is part of that process but it will be a long, slow, tortuous process because we are talking about changes in mindset. If this was easy, it would have been achieved a long time ago. There are no straight lines in this building of peace. However, we have a great responsibility because we have the opportunity now to deliver peace for those who are coming behind us.

I thank all the delegates for their attendance. I regard today’s meeting as a start of something. We should reflect on what has been expressed here today and I suggest a follow-up meeting. I am not sure how this could be organised but the transcript of this meeting will show we have identified ways of continuing this work.

I refer to the Unionist centenary committee, the committee set up by the Taoiseach and this committee and I agree that mainstreaming is critical. I am not so sure there is yet a willingness to mainstream and this may have to be determined. We cannot afford to allow five, six or seven, independent groups to work in isolation when they are all addressing the same issue. This would be wrong, in my view. One of the challenges is to work out a way in which we can all work upwards towards a convergence so that all the work feeds into the same pot resulting in celebrating these next ten years in ways which are not divisive and which will be a means of adding value to the peace process.

Chairman: On behalf of the other members of the committee, I express our gratitude to Senator McAleese for helping to arrange today’s events. Like Senator McAleese, I hope we can have more such events in the future.

I thank all the delegates for attending this meeting today.

Dr. Ian Adamson: I wish to thank the committee members. I said go raibh maith agat at the beginning of the meeting but I would like to thank all the members, including our group, in Ulster Scots. There is a tradition in the North on New Year’s Day to bring a little piece of coal to one’s neighbour’s house and this will help him with his heating problems. There is an old Ulster Scots saying, “lang may yer lum reek wi’ither folks coal”, which means, long may your chimney smoke with other folks coal; may you have many friends. This committee has friends in us and we know the members are our friends.

The joint committee went into private session at 1.20 p.m. and adjourned at 1.30 p.m. sine die.

Concluded

Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Mr. Jackie McDonald: An important point needs to be made about nine and ten year olds. They are the children of children. Their parents are in their early twenties. Many of the parents are single parents who got together for the wrong reasons, perhaps through escapism or in a drink-induced relationship. In many cases the father has left, the mother is in a flat on her own and is finding it very difficult to cope. The children do not get the tender loving care, TLC, they are entitled to. That is a big problem for them. They are left to go out and learn the habits of the street. We need to look after young single parents. We need crèche facilities to allow mothers to go back to school or into employment and get some sort of identity in the community.

There are many dangers to the peace process. Parades is one of them, but the major problem for our peace process, and the biggest danger I see, is the young people. They are getting involved in riots and they think that is part of the conflict. I have criticised the PSNI openly and I have talked to them about this. A few months ago in east Belfast the PSNI sat in Land Rovers and let 14 year olds, with gloved fists and wearing training shoes, climb over armour-plated Land Rovers, punch and kick them and hit them with wheelie bins. The police sat there and did absolutely nothing. They have since made a few arrests and it will take a year to bring the cases to court. I have told the PSNI they need snatch squads. They have to get out and arrest rioters there and then so they know they cannot get away with it.

The police plead health and safety. If a 14 year old has climbed on a Land Rover, the police cannot move the Land Rover in case he falls off it. They are lined up like tins of beans. They should just leave the Land Rovers there, go and have their tea and then when they are finished, they can come back and take them away. As Sean Murray said, it is a matter for the people in the area, whether it is the Garvaghy Road or the Ormeau Road. It is not for the Orange Order to bring people from Belfast or from anywhere else to try to force the issue. The people in that area should be left to deal with the problem and let them sit down together to talk it through. The same applies to the issue of the peace wall. The only people who can sort out the peace walls are the people who live on either side of them. I was in Alexandra Park the other day and it was good to see so many people there. It was a very important moment and it shows the way forward. The walls cannot be taken down yet but gates could certainly be put in them so that communities on either side could become comfortable and familiar with each other.

There are so many problems and so many dangers to the peace process. The biggest issue must be to give our young people an identity. At the moment there is no consequence for doing wrong. They have plenty of opportunities to show how bad they can be and we need to give them the opportunities to show how good they can be.

To be continued

Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Deputy Seán Crowe: I welcome the witnesses. One of the things that is coming through is the lack of hope. Some communities in the South have similar problems. There was a debate in the Dáil yesterday on the community and voluntary sector and many groups referred to the lack of hope and change and the frustration and anger in some communities in terms of housing, a lack of jobs and so on. It is not something that can be transformed overnight.

It is helpful if someone listens. When no one is listening, especially those in power, frustration and anger develops. We have heard the phrase, “It passed off peacefully”, many times on television and radio, but it does not reflect the work done behind the scenes. It also does not mean that the inherent conflict is resolved. That is where the real work needs to take place. We talk about the conflict being endless but peace is still being built.

People feel let down. When there has been no investment and promises have not been delivered on, it is no wonder people feel angry, frustrated and let down. Is that where the seeds of future conflict lie, if people are not listening and there is no dialogue? If anything has come out of this meeting it is the fact that people at the coalface are talking. That is the important thing. Those with power and influence need to listen and respond to what is happening in the witnesses’ areas.

Deputy Robert Dowds: Cuirim fíor-fháilte roimh ár n-aíonna. I strongly welcome our guests. The work they are doing in bridging the boundaries between the two communities in Northern Ireland is very important. We should do everything we can to be supportive in that regard.

With regard to the commemorations that will take place on both sides of the Border in the next few years, whether we commemorate the events 1916 or 1912 or the start of the First World War, it is important we acknowledge each event with respect. As a Labour Party Deputy, I regard myself as a republican. I happen to be a southern Protestant and my family background is strongly Unionist. Two of my great-uncles, from Richhill in County Armagh, were killed in the Battle of the Somme. My great-aunt, who was my godmother, signed the Solemn League and Covenant as a very young woman. I do not agree with what she did but I respect the fact that she was doing what she thought was right. That is the sort of attitude that needs to inform all of us as we come to celebrate these events.

When I was a child in the Sunday school which was attached to our church, the teacher happened to be a Belfast Protestant. He was quite old when he was teaching me and was a veteran of the 1916 Rising. As a Northern Protestant he had fought in the GPO. I had great respect for him.

The respect issue is the really important one. Tá fíor-fháilte roimh ár n-aíonna anseo. Is breá liom a bheith ag caint Gaeilge, but I am very happy speaking English too. That is the sort of attitude that needs to inform all of us, from North and South.

Mr. George Newell: Our social ailments are no different from those of any working class area across the breadth of Ireland. The problem with our social ailments is that if we fall out with our neighbours in the next-door community, it could lead to guns and bombs coming out and people losing their lives. That is the major problem we have.

Enough credit has not been given to loyalist paramilitaries. They have been tagged with all sorts of names and labels, yet the level of social crime in our communities is nothing compared with that in other communities. It is very low. The PSNI, when dealing with loyalist paramilitaries, does not want to disclose that. It is a definite no-no. What we read in the Sunday tabloids about the names and things that have been attached to loyalist paramilitaries is all bad. There are bad apples in there. Like every community and organisation, there are bad applies. The greater majority want to achieve peace and to live in social happiness with their next-door neighbours.

One of the problems within Protestantism is the diversity that exists there. The Protestant, Unionist and loyalist community is so divided it is unbelievable. Everyone is wearing a hat. If you are a Protestant within the Protestant churches, you are divided by religion. There are a hundred different churches throughout Belfast. One of the latest churches to open in the Newtownards Road-Albertbridge Road area is the Upper Room Church. It got its name because it took over an old terraced house and because the ground floor could not be used, the church uses the upper floor. That is the problem we have within our churches. Within Unionism in general we take our political thoughts from the different political parties. Within loyalism there is the paramilitary angle.

The Shankill Road, where I come from, has a multitude of problems. There is not one Protestant high school in west Belfast. The closest is in the former Boys’ and Girls’ Model Schools in north Belfast. Thirty or 40 years ago, that was the closest thing to a grammar school. Now, because it is over-subscribed, academic achievement is almost nil. In east Belfast, Orangefield High School used to be one of best secondary schools in Belfast. It is less than 30 yards from a grammar school. Orangefield High School has been designated a special needs school because more than 50% of the young people attending the school are categorised as special needs. We have 16 to 18 year olds leaving school who can barely write their names. We also have men and women of 40, 50 and 60 who can barely write their names.

This problem is not exclusive to the Protestant community. I daresay it is across the community but it is a problem we suffer from. The existence of this problem and the fact that job opportunities are no longer being created in, for example, the shipyards, Mackies or Shorts means we have to deal with high levels of unemployment. That leads to forms of escapism. The only escape is to use alcohol or drugs or join paramilitaries. That is a major problem we suffer from. That is the level of life within our communities.

We hope that some form of education and job opportunities will be created, not only for the 30 and 40 year olds but also for the 14, 15 and 16 year olds who are leaving school. We need to give them hope, aspirations and job security. If they want to start a family, there must be opportunities to make a life for themselves and their children. I daresay this problem exists across the divide in republican or Nationalist west Belfast, across Belfast and across Ireland in general. We are fearful that when our community falls out, it does so with a bomb and a gun in the hand. We want to take that fear out of community politics. Otherwise, community situations can get out of hand.

To be continued

Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Deputy Regina Doherty: I thank all the witnesses. It has been a real pleasure to hear the comments. I have been peripherally involved and have a keen interest in Northern Ireland, given the positive outcomes. One does not get to feel, sense and touch the emotion and sincerity the witnesses described when one watches the news on television or reads the newspapers. Real lives are affected by the changes and progress that have taken place over recent years. There are difficulties that need to be addressed.

Mr. Newell spoke very candidly about the difficulties he experienced in terms of people putting labels on him. It is not something I would have considered. Who was responsible for the labels Was it people in the South, the North, his community or his adversaries? I do not mean to be disingenuous. The only label that those who have achieved peace over the past 20 years and more should be wearing is that of hero because we would not be in our current position otherwise. I understand there are still considerable difficulties to overcome but we would not be in our current position without all the people who have collectively come together to get us here. Each and every person on both sides of the divide are heroes to have brought us to our current position.

I share the same concerns as my colleague. If nine and ten year olds feel the way the witnesses think they do and make similar statements, they do not it pick up off the ground. Parents such as me inform the decisions and views of our children when they are at home with them. What is causing the problem? Parents of my age have children aged ten years and younger. Why are people so disillusioned that they feed such views to their children?

When the Good Friday Agreement was reached and enacted, the generation that made those decisions was not lost to the improvements made in Northern Ireland because of the agreement, but the next generation was going to see the benefits. If the next generation is still partitioned because of its educational choices, what else, if anything, is feeding into that? There may not be other choices, something on which the Minister for Education and Skills has to focus.

Deputy Joanna Tuffy: I thank the witnesses for coming. When we were in Alexandra Park last week there was a very moving picture of two young girls meeting and shaking hands. Children are not naturally sectarian. Our experience here with new communities coming from Africa and so on is that children are accidentally at the coalface of integration in our primary schools. They influence their parents.

Professor Hutchinson referred to Catholic schools. In the Republic the Catholic Church bought into multidenominational education. It became involved in community schools and, later on, in community colleges. The Church of Ireland has also been involved in them. The institutional church has a responsibility in terms of leadership.

On commemorations and history, Mr. Murray referred to people bringing their republican or Unionist history or their involvement in the British Army to the table. It is complicated because many of us have a background in different communities. My grandfather and great-grandfather served in the British army. Our history is complex and has to be part of commemorations. The divide between North and South is also complex. Growing up, I reacted against the promotion of the Irish language and felt alienated from it. We never heard Irish spoken in a Dublin accent and other dialects were taught which were alien to people in school in Dublin. A lot of work needs to be done on our identity to introduce complexity to celebrations. It is important we know and take on board all of our history.

We were shown the groundwork project. A lot of money seems to have been spent on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. There was an initial presentation by the secretariat. Witnesses referred to money not being spent locally. Is the money being spent properly or is there a need for change?

Deputy Seán Crowe: I welcome the witnesses. One of the things that is coming through is the lack of hope. Some communities in the South have similar problems. There was a debate in the Dáil yesterday on the community and voluntary sector and many groups referred to the lack of hope and change and the frustration and anger in some communities in terms of housing, a lack of jobs and so on. It is not something that can be transformed overnight.

It is helpful if someone listens. When no one is listening, especially those in power, frustration and anger develops. We have heard the phrase, “It passed off peacefully”, many times on television and radio, but it does not reflect the work done behind the scenes. It also does not mean that the inherent conflict is resolved. That is where the real work needs to take place. We talk about the conflict being endless but peace is still being built.

People feel let down. When there has been no investment and promises have not been delivered on, it is no wonder people feel angry, frustrated and let down. Is that where the seeds of future conflict lie, if people are not listening and there is no dialogue? If anything has come out of this meeting it is the fact that people at the coalface are talking. That is the important thing. Those with power and influence need to listen and respond to what is happening in the witnesses’ areas.

To be continued

Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Chairman: I am looking at the clock and there are arrangements for the room at 1 p.m. I call on the remaining speakers to be as concise and brief as possible. I know they will facilitate me in this regard.

Deputy Brendan Smith: I join the previous speakers in welcoming our visitors. Great progress has been made since April 2008 with the signing of the Good Friday agreement. The remarks by Mr. Murray and Mr. Newell in particular were rather chilling especially with regard to sectarianism. Mr. Murray remarked that sectarianism was rampant at the interface and he spoke about the post-Good Friday agreement and the post-ceasefire generation. I assumed he was referring to people in their late teens and early 20s considering that August 2004 is more than 17 years ago and these people were born since that time or were very young at the time.

I found the remarks of Mr. Newell concerning. He spoke about nine and ten year olds being involved in conveying a sectarian message. Children of that age involved in sectarian activities and chants are not simply picking it up on the streets; they must pick up some of it at home as well from an older generation or their parents and this is especially concerning. Today, the focus is on Belfast and I understand that. Is sectarianism prevalent in Derry and other urban centres throughout the Six Counties?

Mr. Murphy, MP touched on another issue. Mr. Murray stated that the education system has failed many people from disadvantaged and less-favoured communities. Education is the enabler for people to get employment in normal times. If people are not participating in it and acquiring skills or particular expertise then they have no hope of getting employment either in difficult days or good days. Has provision being made for second chance education opportunities for young people in these less-advantaged areas? Do colleges of further education, third level institutions and the universities have access programmes for people from these communities to go on and study? Are we making progress in that regard? We can talk until the cows come home about commemorations and so on but education and employment are the fundamental building blocks to all of us having the proper appreciation of each others views and traditions on the island.

Chairman: I call on one person from the group, perhaps Mr. Murray, to respond. We are keen to take a further four questions.

Mr. Sean Murray: They were relevant and pertinent questions on the type of work we are involved in and I will address them as best I can. Culture is important to every perspective but so is the way we manifest and display it. We must learn to empathise with each other to some extent and learn how what we do will impact in terms of the perception of the other community if we do A, B, C or D. Let us consider parading, for example. Parading is not the issue; it is how and where one parades that makes it contentious. The key is to consider how we devise ways and means of getting this across to respective communities. No one wishes to undermine anyone’s culture because it is important to them but it is how one manifests it and the impact of manifesting that culture which matters. We must see if we can make it inclusive as distinct from exclusive. That is the challenge for us in future. I fully agree with one of the speakers who made the point that it cannot be triumphalist because that raises the temperature and the tension. Other perspectives suggest that we must do something similar in response but this allows the extremes to play a more important role and that is the last thing we want or need at present.

The matter of the interfaces and the lack of development and investment there was raised. Invest Northern Ireland has failed abysmally in attracting investment to these areas. This is about turning a challenge into an opportunity. The area I come from has cross-community forums and we took the view that we should do something about it ourselves. We approached the city council for money for an economic appraisal and we put together a concept or plan in terms of investment for the old Mackie site, which has been a contentious parade crossing and where there have been nightly riots in the summer. Something that was supposed to be a positive turned into a negative. We have put forward plans and the council has come back and indicated it is willing to put money into it. We have approached others as well. This is an example of where the community can come together and identify issues of mutual benefit and, rather than deal with contentious issues, we are dealing with something positive and promoting a positive dialogue. I hope that as an outflow from this positive dialogue we can deal with some of the more contentious issues. That is some of the work ongoing in Belfast at present.

Deputy Ferris posed the question of how to break down sectarianism. I wish I knew how we could do it but it is a key challenge for us. We must provide leadership. If I hear it in my community I must challenge it and if Mr. McDonald or Mr. Newell hears it within their community, they must challenge it as well. However, challenging it by itself will not break it down; we must deal with the sources. As the Deputy Smith remarked, if children of nine and ten years of age are adopting sectarian attitudes, where are they getting them from? They did not come out of the sky. What is influencing these children to expound them and what promotes sectarianism? This is a challenge for all communities to address. We must question if we are doing anything to promote, fuel or provide an outlet for sectarian feelings and how to combat this and we must do it in a way that does not impact on or that is not seen as an attack by one community over another. This is why the initiative must come from within each community and it must not be a question of one community trying to claim victory over another. This is where leadership and self-reflection is required, especially with regard to historic anniversaries.

How do we mark these anniversaries in a way that is not antagonistic? We must learn to empathise with the other community and try to involve the other community in these commemorations. Let us consider the 1916 anniversary. I have held this discussion with members of the Orange Order. It was revealing that in a discussion about next time there was to be a contentious parade in a certain area they asked me not to let members of their community know that they had spoken to me. That was the context in which we held the conversation. We are keen to do a joint exhibition whereby one group brings in their republican exhibition on Easter 1916 and the other brings in its exhibition on the Somme anniversary. Some good dialogue is under way and this joint approach is the way to deal with it but we should not under estimate the challenges in terms of people believing they have been left behind and who suffer from alienation.

As Mr. Murphy, MP outlined, the education process is one of the key challenges and issues we are trying to get to terms with in the Assembly and local governance and so on. Our young people have been failed in many ways, make no mistake about it. I spoke of talking to some of the training providers who said they had to deal with basic numeracy and literacy problems. I do not condone it but if a child is starting off in life lacking these essential skills with no job opportunities, is it any wonder we are having problems at the coalface? I assure the committee that the PSNI has made many arrests, but the question is whether they are proportionate. If not, they will engender community conflict. The riots have to be viewed in an anti-community context. They do not help the community. People who live within communities have to pick up the pieces afterwards and suffer the consequences.

It is not the best advertisement in the world for investment. They are some of the issues we have to deal with. We need to identify the core issues which fuel sectarianism and how we can devise strategies to combat them. If children are educated separately and live in separate housing estates, it is no wonder they espouse sectarian attitudes.

Professor Wesley Hutchinson: Deputy Ó Ríordáin referred to the importance of integrated education. I am 100% behind integrated education in Northern Ireland. Mr McDonald was reticent about the issue and had doubts about whether it was a good idea. Something has to be borne in mind with regard to integrated education in the North, namely, that one can choose to create a school if one wants to and one can also choose to move a school from one status to another. To my knowledge no Catholic school has done that. All the schools which have chosen to move and become integrated were originally state run, and therefore predominantly Protestant, schools. It might explain the reticence because when one is operating within a strictly binary logic, that kind of experience and transfer is automatically registered as a loss.

To be continued

Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Deputy Frank Feighan: I welcome the witnesses. We were in Belfast last week, along with Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and we went to the Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich in west Belfast, which was a revelation, showing how community enterprise can work. We also went to Duncairn Gardens and Alexandra Park and saw the groundwork that has been done. I am heartened at the leadership and sacrifice that people such as the witnesses have made over the years.

Deputy Ó Ríordáin is right in saying that we were in denial down here. My grandfather, who came from Crossmaglen, was in prison with Deputy Ó Ríordáin’s grandfather; I did not know that. My other grandfather, in Boyle, County Roscommon, was a Sinn Féin councillor; I did not know that until I got involved with the local council in 1999, because he went on to join the Garda. We lived in a kind of utopia and if we went to England or to the United States, Northern Ireland’s problems were nothing to do with us. However, Northern Ireland’s problems were in fact intertwined with Ireland, and it affected how we lived. The barracks of the Connaught Rangers were 100 yards from my house. We did not really understand the significance of the fact that hundreds of thousands of men from the west of Ireland fought in the Great War alongside the Ulster regiments. I have been part of the Connaught Rangers Association for the last 15 years. Over the years, we commemorated 11 November, although most people did not fully understand. We are working together to achieve these things because previously, we all lived in a bubble, thinking it was not our problem.

When de Valera set up this great country, he had a vision of maidens dancing at the crossroads. At all these crossroads now there are little housing estates, and there are people in those housing estates who do not represent the society to which we all aspire. In my own town last week, there was a fire-bombing in which a young girl died. These social problems are in every town and village, and if people had the excuse that those in the North had, I do not think we would be able to contain it or have the will to deal with it. We are now dealing with a society that is very different from the one that existed 20 or 30 years ago. The family unit and local ties have broken down. We have rights, but most of these young people do not have responsibilities. As a TD I could walk down the street and have young people abuse me, even in good times. I am simply saying that what the deputation is dealing with is significant. Last week I saw the work that has gone into it and this should be recognised. I was not surprised but it was wonderful to see people from both sides of the community putting a great sacrifice into the show and that will continue.

We had the Love Ulster campaign or march in Dublin and every fruitcake in the country jumped on the bandwagon to riot. It was heartening to see that one, two and three months later the Garda knocked on people’s doors and they had video evidence. People were charged and that softened their cough. Let us consider the riots in the Ardoyne or the Limestone Road. Is there an opportunity now for the PSNI to use that video evidence and charge whoever the perpetrators are on both sides of the community or is that simply not politically correct at the moment? We should face down the growing trend of using the excuse that they come from a broken home or an underprivileged background. We all came from that and if we all took that view no one would stand up and be strong as the deputation has done.

Chairman: Will you be brief, Deputy Feighan, because five others are offering?

Deputy Frank Feighan: I believe we can work together given the links here today. There should be more groups from this committee, the Parliament and the country going up to visit both sides to see exactly what is taking place.

To be continued

Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta...Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD

Mr. Conor Murphy, MP, MLA: I thank the delegation for coming. I will first respond to Mr. Newell’s challenge in terms of representation. The issues that loyalist and working-class Protestant communities face - including social deprivation and educational under-attainment, which is a particular issue as it leads to decreased opportunities for employment and advancement - are all issues that can be addressed in the Assembly and are in fact the responsibility of the Assembly. I know from talking to some of my Belfast colleagues in Sinn Féin that people from the loyalist community are increasingly coming to our constituency centres on the Falls Road, and we are encouraged by this. I was told we had actually opened up a satellite office in the Sandy Row area, which is a novelty for Sinn Féin, because of the demand from people there for representation. I am glad to say we are making representations in the Assembly, where those issues are dealt with.

One of our greatest challenges in the Assembly is educational reform, and a central plank underpinning that is the need to deal with educational underachievement, particularly in working-class Unionist areas, which has been ignored for so long in the pursuit of academic excellence. The school in south Belfast to which Mr. McDonald referred was a major example of complete abandonment of a school system and educational underachievement, with no students graduating over the last number of years with the basic requirement of a minimum of five GCSEs or leaving certificate subjects. This is part of the educational reform we have been pursuing in the North, and we hope it will have a major impact.

With regard to the central point of the group’s visit, the initiative from the President and Senator Martin McAleese is terrific, because the next ten years will contain significant opportunities, as well as challenges and threats, in terms of commemoration. I got a tour of the city cemetery from Dr. Adamson’s old friend, my colleague Tom Hartley. I recommend the tour to anybody from this committee. It covers the history of Belfast as it was developed by the people who built Belfast. The central thesis advanced by Mr. Hartley, who is a councillor in Belfast, is that we had a much broader definition 100 years ago of who we were, both as Irish Nationalists and as Irish Unionists, and that the experience over the last 100 years - with some of the events we are about to commemorate, leading up to partition and then the conflict - has narrowed our definition significantly. There is a significant opportunity in approaching these commemorations for a re-examination of history and where it has led us over the last 100 years - those events themselves, what they mean to people, what we can learn from them and how, through that discussion and education, we can achieve reconciliation, which contributes to our current circumstances in the analysis of important events from 100 years ago.

The work being done by the delegation is important and has major potential, and it needs to be given recognition. This is a welcome initiative. Dr. Adamson said they had support from the Minister of Education and the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, who I know has a keen interest in these issues. However, the initiative needs to be mainstreamed into the work that the Taoiseach’s office is doing through the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, and through the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the North, which has responsibility for community relations, because if the work is successful - and I hope it is - the result will be seen not just in terms of educational or cultural events but also in terms of improved community relations, which is important in contributing to the development and cementing of the peace process. Similarly, with regard to the commemorations that are being talked about here, we should have a view to the ideas the delegation has come up with, and it should be mainstreamed into the Taoiseach’s office. Have they been knocking on those doors as well? This committee probably shares the view that the importance of this work means it needs to be recognised and supported at the highest levels both North and South.

To be continued

Last night, with James O'Fee ( Seamus O Fiaich), I attended the fifteenth annual Aisling Awards (Gradain na hAislinge) gala at the Europa Hotel, Belfast. I am the past Roll of Honour recipent for 2008. The guest of honour was an Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, who headed a glittering guest list. I extended to him the Lord Bannside's best wishes, following our meeting with him earlier in the year.

The annual celebration brought together political, business and community leaders from across the city to raise a glass to the bridge-builders and local heroes of Belfast.

Accolades in a range of categories, including Culture and Arts, Belfast Brand, Business, Inter-Community, An Ghaeilge and Sport, were awarded at the event compered by Paul Clarke of UTV.

Highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Person of the Year Award – previous recipients have included Emma Groves, Inez McCormack, Naomi Long and Caitríona Ruane – by the Taoiseach to Geraldine Finucane.

A prestigious list of sponsors for the 2011 Aisling Awards was led by LBM and included the Park Centre, Sean Grahams, Cable & Wireless, the Kennedy Centre, Moviehouse, TG4, Tennents NI and Mercury Security Management Ltd.

Said Alison Sweeney of the Belfast Media Group: “This is a tough time for Belfast as the recession continues to bite, but we think that makes it all the more important to celebrate those who are building tomorrow’s Belfast. We are looking forward to a night which affirms our faith in the future and our belief in the genius and talent of the people of Belfast.”

Tonight I attended the annual Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators dinner at the Reform Club, Royal Avenue Belfast, organised by Dermott Brooks of Andras House Ltd, 60 Great Victoria Street, Belfast,

The guest of honour was Ron Rosenhead MBE and his wife, President of Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Associated Territories. Ron is ICSA’s President and has served on the UK Committee, International Council and the Audit committee since 2010; previously he was a member of the Education Committee and has been Chairman and Treasurer of the Institute’s Wessex Branch/Group. Following a career in the Army he took up a Finance Director appointment and his portfolio of tasks revolves around property and asset management in the United Kingdom and United States. He is also a Trustee of two Army related charities.

The guest speaker was Jim Eastwood, 3rd Runner-Up in Sir Alan Sugar's The Apprentice Competition on BBC Television. And I sat between Sir George and Lady Moyra Quigley, two delightful companions.