Have we learned anything from Community Relations Week?

9.35.00pm GMT Fri 28th Apr 2006

Young Alliance Chair, Ian Parsley

The Alliance Party's youth wing has challenged statutory bodies and political parties to take practical action on the back of Community Relations week to tackle Northern Ireland's "Apartheid Society".

Chairman North Down Councillor Ian James Parsley stated: "Northern Ireland is fundamentally an apartheid society. It remains legal to hand out school places and teaching jobs purely on the religious label of the candidate; racial minorities are discriminated against in recruitment to a police service from which they are already underrepresented; and parties choosing not to have a tribal designation are discriminated against in the Assembly voting system. Worst of all, there are political parties which refuse outright to tackle these outrages -- indeed even defend them -- while claiming to be serious about justice, equality, and human rights! It is gutter hypocrisy of the worst kind.

"Community Relations Week has been full of hot air - all talk, no action. Not a single proposal from any of the parties seeking a place in the NI Executive to promote integration over segregation, genuine fairness over tribal balance, justice for all over justice for a select few. These parties dare to host companies under the label 'Shared Future' while continuing to promote division.

"We have a society poisoned by sectarianism and hypocrisy -- and we have politicians unable and unwilling to lead us away from those things.

"It is time for a new generation of thinking. It is time we stopped judging people by tribal affiliation, and judged them on merit. It is time we stopped talking about equality for some and talked about equality for all. It is time we were governed for Northern Ireland as a whole, not just certain sections of its population.

"That means changing equality legislation, promoting enterprise, crushing segregation in education and housing, and implementing a new deal for a new generation of people.

"If we have not learned this from Community Relations Week, we should have."

ENDS