Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank each of the witnesses for the presentations, which were informative, measured and well put. The witnesses referred to the consequences of social deprivation. I maintain that we have social deprivation in the South and that it is equally bad and, in many instances, possibly worse. I believe the problem is sectarianism added to social deprivation. That becomes an excuse or the reason for anger or expressions of anger and so forth.

If we are to deal with the problem, several issues must be dealt with. We need to break down sectarian divisions and so forth. Education is of major importance in generating a tolerance, an understanding and a methodology for being able to argue and debate a given point. Employment or a lack of employment is a major problem. People without jobs or education have major difficulties and they should have the opportunity to get the necessary employment. All of that is a contributing factor.

The witnesses referred to the disconnect between working-class Protestant areas and the Good Friday Agreement or the Assembly or whatever. The disconnect can take many dimensions but the most important dimension is a lack of political leadership. There is a problem if there is no political leadership or representation. This committee had an excellent meeting in the Andy Tyrie Interpretive Centre on the Newtownards Road approximately one year ago. It was an excellent meeting with the leadership of one section of the UDA. The four brigadiers from Belfast were at the meeting. It was a progressive meeting but one thing that came across clearly was that, in the Protestant working-class or loyalist areas, there are what are described as former combatants, but they do not represent their communities in an electoral sense. However, across the divide in the nationalist areas former combatants are now Sinn Féin activists who are embedded and ingrained in their communities. They are giving leadership and representation to their communities. This was described in the committee once by Jackie McDonald. He noted that he was before this committee looking at MPs, Deputies and MLAs, all elected representatives from the nationalist communities and many of them former combatants. However, they do not have that on the other side. It seems to me that that deficit must be addressed, but the only people who can address it are the people within the community prepared to give the necessary leadership. These people need to have the opportunity to become representatives for the common good. That needs to be looked at but it can only come from within.

I have always had the view that the role of the churches in generating and sustaining sectarianism has been questionable. That is my personal view. I note in latter years the fantastic efforts being made to break that down, and that is to be welcomed and encouraged. However, the role of the church should not be underestimated when it comes to mitigating sectarianism in a community or communities which have become victims of a sectarian system that has prevailed for a long time. We need to address that.

I welcome the commitment and the efforts of the witnesses. I do not have a gloomy picture because there are many positives in what the witnesses have said. It is easy to be critical and gloomy but we should be challenging instead. We should challenge where we believe things are not going right. We are in a far better place - indeed, a very good place - compared to where we have come from. There are still difficulties to be resolved and those difficulties are resolvable.

There is a role for people from within working-class communities in representing those communities, but I do not detect it at present in the light of our visit to the Newtownards Road or the several occasions on which people have come from those working-class areas to appear before the committee. They did not have an electoral mandate but it is essential that they work and get an electoral mandate. This is because along with having an electoral mandate comes responsibility and with that responsibility comes an opportunity to address the grievances and perceived wrongs, whether real or otherwise, in the Protestant community. That is the way out of it.