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March 2005

COMMUNITY RELATIONS: CURRENT ISSUES (MARCH 2005)


Paramilitaries

  • SDLP leader Mark Durkan has proposed that assets seized from paramilitaries go towards a new fund to provide better services for victims.  Mr Durkan is proposing that ill-gotten gains be given back to those who deserve them most, the victims of the troubles.
  • A senior loyalist has refused to rule out further expulsions of UDA members involved in drug dealing and criminal activity.  The claim comes after the loyalist paramilitary group said it had expelled east Belfast 'brigadier' Jim Gray.
  • A 26 year old man has been shot in the leg in a paramilitary style attack in Co. Antrim.  The incident happened at Shore Crescent in Greencastle.
  • Two of Northern Irelands busiest shopping centres were yesterday at the centre of security alerts following the discovery of incendiary devices.  The devices had been planted in Forestside and Newtownards Shopping Centre.
  • The IRA's offer to shoot the killers of Robert McCartney was a “huge mistake” according to Sinn Féin's Martin McGuiness.  But the Mid-Ulster MP refused to accept that if the IRA had shot the killers of the east Belfast man it would have been a criminal act.
  • The family of Robert McCartney has hit back at an IRA statement saying the organisation has not done enough to bring his killers to justice and claimed that the man who sanctioned the murder has been reinstated.
  • A 16 year old boy was left with extensive injuries after a paramilitary style beating in the Village area of South Belfast.  Loyalist Paramilitaries have been blamed for the attack which the NSPCC says is child abuse.  The boy was left with a broken leg, fractures in both arms and substantial bruising to the face.
  • Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said last night that 7 party members had been suspended following the murder of Robert McCartney.  He also said that their names be given to the Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan and that the seven had been personally instructed to give full and frank statements.


Sectarianism

  • Loyalists have targeted a Catholic woman's house in the Brookfield area of Ahoghill, Co. Antrim in the early hours of Easter Sunday.  The Sectarian attack apparently was sparked after her grandchildren were seen playing hurling. 
  • A Catholic man was badly beaten at gun point by a loyalist gang after he found them daubing sectarian graffiti inside his flat on Cliftonpark Avenue in North Belfast.
  • A Protestant estate in Derry has again come under petrol bomb attack, police confirmed yesterday.  They said three petrol bombs were thrown into the estate from the direction of Bishop St.  The latest attack has increased fears among Protestants living one of the last remaining loyalist enclaves in the area.
  • A sectarian motive has not been ruled out for an attack on a year 12 year old girl in North Belfast.  A group of youths pulled the girl to the ground and kicked her at Old Throne Park in the Whitewell Rd area.
  • Several Protestant groups have shelved plans to take part in Londonderry's St. Patrick Day Carnival parade – over fears they will be set up upon like visiting Linfield fans were last week.


Victims and Survivors

  • EU Chiefs were under fire for failing to produce a separate measure for victims groups under the peace and reconciliation funds.  Dup Jim Allister lambasted the European Commission for earmarking funding for prisoners groups following the extension of the Peace II programme but failing to cater for victims' organisations.
  • The British governments proposals for a victims and survivors commissioner has been welcomed by the SDLP and the DUP and Alliance Parties but has been criticised as divisive by Sinn Féin.  SOS Paul Murphy said the move was a tailored approach to dealing with the past.


Minority Ethnic

  • Anti-racism campaigners have blamed a violent attack on an Asian man in loyalist south Belfast on a small group of hard-line racists.  Police said the victim was attacked in his Donegal Avenue home by a gang of three men around 11.30pm on Monday.   They punched and kicked him before dragging him outside in to the pavement where they continued to beat him.  One of the men then hit the victim with a broken bottle.
  • Charities in Northern Ireland are to benefit from more than £1.7 million, as part of a Big Lottery Fund package.  Almost £250,000 of the money is earmarked to help stop racist attacks. The Multi cultural resource centre is to receive £247,240 grant with the brief of tackling racism and discrimination in the city.
  • The Commission for Racial Equality is investigating a claim that the BBC practised racial discrimination by hiring former Miss Northern Ireland Zoe Salmon to present Blue Peter.  A retired teacher in England has lodged a complaint accusing the BBC of deliberately setting out to find someone of Celtic origin by advertising in newspapers in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  The BBC rejected his claim and said the search for a new presenter was “the widest recruitment ever undertaken” in BBC Children's TV.
  • Belfast Lord mayor Tom Ekin last night criticised other politicians for failing to attend a vigil highlighting racist attacks.  The event was organised by the Anti-Racism Network on the Donegall Rd in south Belfast to protest against a weekend attack on an Asian man living in the area.  While some politicians expressed their support for the vigil only Mr Ekin attended the event.
  • A new strategy to help teachers deal with racist bullying in the classroom is to be launched today.  The Ulster Teachers Union in conjunction with the NICEM has produced new anti-racism guidance for its members.  The UTU's 6,500 members will all receive the Tackling Racism in the Classroom document at the unions annual conference.
  • The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young people, Nigel Williams last night hosted an event to mark International Day against Racism.  The event included a celebration of diversity featuring activities, music, and food from young people from a range of backgrounds.
  • Members of the Travelling community currently stopping off in East Antrim should “keep on travelling”, a Larne councillor has said.  Ulster Unionist Andy Wilson's comments came in the wake of a personal doorstep encounter with a Traveller at the weekend.
  • Efforts to stamp out racism in Ulster must be re-doubled if the Province is to shed its growing notoriety of a place if intolerance according to human rights campaigners.  The NI Human rights Commission called on politicians church leaders, public bodies and voluntary to tackle head on the recent targeting of ethnic minorities.
  • An Indian food fair and talks on Islamic culture are to take place this week as part of European week against racism.  Employers will be asked to show the opposition to racism according to Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission, Dame Joan Harbinson.


Crime, Policing and Justice

  •  A petrol bomb was thrown as police came under attack in east Belfast on Tuesday night.  Stones and other missiles were hurled as disorder broke out near the nationalists Markets area.  Sinn Féin claimed the outbreak followed an attack on a teenage boy by loyalists in nearby East Bridge Street.
  • A Sinn Féin councillor has claimed police in North Belfast failed to protect people taking part in an Easter commemoration parade.  Bottles and golf balls were thrown at the parade on Saturday.  The spokesperson said police allowed a loyalist crowd to gather at the junction where the incident took place.
  • St Patrick's Day Celebrations were marred last night as several people, including a police officer, were injured when trouble flared in Belfast, Derry and Co. Down.  In Derry police came under attack at around 7pm in Foyle Street, William St, Shipquay St and Waterloo Place.
  • Anti-social behaviour and crimes against people with disabilities are to be targeted in a new police offensive.  They are among a number of key areas of policing that must be tackled over the next 12 months as part of a three-year strategy drawn up by the policing board.


Public Policy

  • Derry City Council is to press ahead with a High Court action to decide if the official name of the city be Derry or Londonderry.  Last week – on foot of a combined Sinn Féin/SDLP motion – the council gave the Department of the Environment (DoE) seven days to accept or reject Derry as the official name of the city.
  • The Government will today be told by a delegation of unionists that the new legislation on parades is out of order.  The DUP and UUP are to meet SOS Paul Murphy to discuss the increased powers the Parades Commission has been given.  Both parties have condemned the new powers given to the PC which will allow it control of the behaviour and number of supporters attending any procession.
  • A unique opportunity to flag up parades issues is being given today in Ballycastle to both promoters and opposers of the marching season.  Parades or Pageant? Exploring the traditional route is the first one day conference of its kind to be held in the Moyle District.


Community Relations

  • Thousands of people across NI are to launch an assault on sectarianism and racism during community Relations week.  Around 120 events will take place from today to illustrate and celebrate the often unsung work that goes on to help break down division according to the CEO of the CRC, Duncan Morrow.
  • A survey has found that young people are more optimistic about community relations despite Northern Ireland's increasingly polarised political situation.  The study by the NI Social and Political Archive (ARK) recorded the views of 16 year olds in 2004 and learned that nearly half (48 percent) believed community relations had improved compared to five years ago.


Equality & Human Rights

  • The Equality Commission has defended itself against claims that it has ignored the need to review the issue of equality of opportunity in NI.  UUP Dermot Nesbitt has said the extent of any inequality needs to be re-assessed at a time when Protestants and Catholics are both making arguments as to why they are being discriminated against.  He stated that the Government should look at equality legislation because he is concerned it is outmoded and in some instances, no longer necessary.

 

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