Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, the sectarian rioting and attacks that erupted over a number of weeks in August and at the beginning of September, especially the incidents around Carlisle Circus in north Belfast, point to new sectarian flashpoints and are worrying indications that this could continue and even worsen. It is extremely worrying that 14 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, when power-sharing structures and a power-sharing Executive were set up, sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland are still so deeply entrenched, and that such extreme tensions exist between sections of the two communities in the North. Unfortunately, this bears out the analysis that some of us made at the time - that, far from overcoming sectarian division, the structures that were set up institutionalised it.

Does it not follow that establishment politicians who are at the top of the structures that are based on sectarian division are basing themselves on the reality of the fact and therefore, far from assisting and overcoming it, are entrenching the sectarian divisions that exist? Unfortunately, that has been seen clearly in recent weeks in the various pronouncements from within a supposed government where the sectarian divisions are themselves reflected. Is it not also true that the structures have not delivered for ordinary people in terms of transforming their lives, given the mass unemployment, poverty, homelessness and many social ills that are as prevalent now or worse than they were 14 or 15 years ago? Whereas the vast majority welcomed the end of the futile, horrific paramilitary campaigns and the activities of the British army also, working class people and the poor continue to suffer. The reality is that elements on both sides are deliberately stoking the flames. Some forthcoming events such as the Ulster Covenant march on Saturday, 29 September are a source of tension in Belfast in particular. We must be clear that there is a right to march, as there is a right for residents not to be intimidated in their communities by marchers on either side. I put it to the Taoiseach that the most fundamental right of all is for the working class people in Northern Ireland not to be dragged back again into a sectarian nightmare. The Kingsmill massacre - the Taoiseach correctly met the survivor and relatives of the victims - was one of the worst atrocities but, unfortunately, only one in very dark years. Who wants to go back to that? It appears that some elements do, who must be isolated and resisted and their policies overcome.

Is the Taoiseach aware that there is a hopeful and important sign pointing to a way out in that a week after the Ulster Covenant march there is a march in Belfast by the Youth Fight for Jobs organisation supported by the biggest trade unions, Unite, the Northern Ireland Public Service Association and other unions? It commemorates the 80th anniversary of the outdoor relief workers' strike in Belfast in October 1932 when in the face of horrific conditions Protestant and Catholic workers united in an important struggle for rights and justice and got huge support across the community which united the community for an important period. I put it to the Taoiseach that a united march of youth, trade unionists and activists from both communities, which hopes to go through both the Shankill Road and the Falls Roads as a symbol of the unity that is needed between Protestant and Catholic working class and youth, is a development that should be supported and is a pointer towards the idea that it is a united working class and communities being empowered in that way that can overcome the sectarian divisions as well as address the horrific social evils of unemployment, poverty and homelessness, which are a source of further tension and a result of the present system that, unfortunately, does not offer a future for young people.

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