Local partnerships can ease sectarian tensions says Farren

The Minister of Finance and Personnel has said that local partnerships set up to channel PEACE II funding to cross-community projects have a "vital role to play in helping defuse many of the tensions that lead to civil unrest".

Dr Sean Farren was visiting the City Hall for today's launch of the Belfast Local Strategy Partnership (LSP) and the draft Integrated Local Strategy consultation document. The Belfast LSP, which has 28 members, will be responsible for administering £17.95 million in EU funding. The social partners for the project include three trade union, one farming, three business and seven community and voluntary representatives.

Dr Farren pointed to the expected role of the new Regional Partnership Board as a focus for "galvanising" decision-making at all levels in Northern Ireland. The Minister also stressed the "heavy responsibility" resting on the partnerships to help bring about change in the areas they serve.

“Regrettably we have witnessed violence and unrest on the streets of parts of Belfast in recent months," he said. "People have been dismayed by these developments, coming as they do at a time when we are entitled to expect peace and an end to sectarian conflict. Sectarianism has the potential to tear communities apart. We all have a role to play in stamping it out.

“I believe that this is where the local partnerships can have a profound effect. They must become leaders in and models for promoting the kind of community relations that are essential if our areas of disadvantage are to become economically and socially stable."

The Minister also underlined the need to ensure that the projects funded by PEACE II have "true long-term viability" for the lasting benefit of the local communities they have been designed to help.

He said: “I see partnerships as a valuable way of identifying the best uses for European funding. The partnership approach has brought some of the most important changes over recent years in the way we set about identifying how we utilise our public resources."

(GMcG)