Young Alliance welcomes Women in Politics' determination to challenge

12.00.00am GMT Fri 31st Mar 2006

The Alliance Party's youth wing has welcomed Women in Politics' clarification that it seeks to challenge prevailing views locally as a potentially huge step forward for local democracy.

Chair Cllr Ian James Parsley stated: "Young Alliance has had significant problems in the past with people abusing the term 'cross-community' - all too often it is used as a form of tokenism. We must be on our guard against such laziness at all times.

"We do not believe that being 'cross-community' means two people representing different sides, it means one person representing all sides. That is the only way to tackle inequality in our politics and in our society.

"However, we are delighted to have been assured an invite to WIP events across Northern Ireland on the basis of challenging prevailing local assumptions. That is an essential part of democracy.

"We welcome WIP giving us a platform to make our case democratically across Northern Ireland, and look forward to working constructively with them in future."

ENDS