Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The community sector is vitally important in terms of peace making and reconciliation.

Many argue it was largely left to the community and voluntary groups to try to bridge the divide between Nationalist and Unionist communities in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement. I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Together with other members, also present in the Chamber, I have visited the North on a number of occasions and seen that. We want to highlight the urgent need for the Governments in Dublin and London and the Executive in Belfast to examine that situation and ensure mechanisms are put in place to support such community groups. These are people on the ground who have been putting the Good Friday Agreement into practice by contributing positively to their communities and in wider community relations. By the time the Belfast Agreement was signed there were approximately 5,000 voluntary and community organisations in operation in Northern Ireland, with up to 33,000 people being provided with some type of employment through those local bodies. That is more than the number employed in the manufacturing sector.

One of the worrying things we saw on our visits related to the Titanic project. Many in the Nationalist community felt it was beyond all possibility for them to get employment within that project, which goes to show the void that still exists. We cannot get to a situation of commonality in respect of entitlement for those seeking employment. In the past 15 years these community groups have helped to sustain economic life, especially in disadvantaged areas, but there is a fear that the work of the community sector in advancing reconciliation and peacemaking in the North has been taken for granted. Complacency has set in with regard to the Northern Ireland Government. In March 2010, for example, the Sinn Féin education Minister introduced a 70% cut in funding for the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council. Part of this budget went towards enhancing good community relations between cohorts of young people aged between 3 and 15 years. This is what we are talking about - the effort these voluntary bodies are making. It is up to the parties involved in government in Northern Ireland, with the help of our Government and that of the UK, to provide funding. One thing I saw when I was there was an enthusiasm to move forward, past all the problems of the troubled times, and to ensure the communities survive and become vibrant, allowing themselves to interact within the situation.

I also welcome the commitment by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to dismantle the almost 60 peace walls that separate the Catholic and Protestant communities, especially in Belfast, by 2023. Again, this highlights the problems that exist. Communities cannot drive, expand or work together with the present facilities. We have to build confidence and ensure we overcome the basic nervousness that currently exists. We met many members of committees when we visited and, with the help of God, we will go again shortly. That is what we must do to ensure the Good Friday Agreement will reach and involve the people, overcome problems and ensure we will not lose out on this wonderful opportunity of peace.

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