05/07/2005

North-South body needed to tackle poverty - academics

A North-South body, similar to those set up under the Good Friday Agreement, should be established to tackle poverty, exclusion and inequalities throughout Ireland, a new book by three top Northern Ireland academics has said.

Bill Rolston from the University of Ulster and Paddy Hillyard and Mike Tomlinson from Queen’s University argue in the book - Poverty and Conflict in Ireland: An International Perspective - that the body could work with the relevant government departments in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and could bring an all-island perspective to the work and "maximise synergies".

All three academics said that opportunities to rebuild society following the ‘Troubles’ had been missed and that much of the work, funded through the EU Peace programmes and the International Fund for Ireland, had concentrated on rebuilding infrastructure in Northern Ireland and the border counties and on attracting new investment.

“Transcending poverty and conflict in Ireland presents major challenges across all sectors of society. The peace process has failed to establish stable political institutions,” the authors argue in the book.

“In terms of social and economic reconstruction, very little has changed for people living in the most economically marginalised areas, particularly the border area.”

Meanwhile, a call for a radical new approach to dealing with fuel poverty in Northern Ireland is due to be made on Tuesday.

A cross-party delegation will meet Social Development Minister David Hanson at Stormont to press the government on the issue.

National Energy Action said more than 2,000 people died in Northern Ireland last year from cold related illnesses.

(MB/GB)

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