‘A Shared Future’ - Cork

It is a great pleasure firstly, to be here in Cork and secondly, to have the opportunity to speak to an audience so knowledgeable in the fields of housing and regeneration.  I’d like to thank the organisers for the invitation to speak to you today.

I would also like to congratulate the organisers on choosing the conference theme of Shared Future.  A Shared Future is something I believe in passionately.  

That is why I have put it at the centre of the New Housing Agenda in Northern Ireland.  The New Housing Agenda is our first root and branch strategic housing initiative in a generation.

And although I hear a faint rumbling of tummies around the room, let me briefly set out why I think a Shared Future is so important.

Up North, we have been divided for decades, indeed perhaps for centuries.  But at long last we now have an end to armed campaigns and a political agreement that offers the prospect of political stability for the very first time.  

The political stability is the first requirement for a better Northern Ireland and it allows us to pursue the second requirement, which is developing the economy.  However, if we are really going to succeed in making the North a better place, then we have to address the third requirement, which is social development.  This is where we address, for the very first time, all of the community problems that have created our very dysfunctional society.

And our society is dysfunctional.

Although considerable political progress has been made in recent times, we still have a society full of bitterness, sectarianism and alienation.  We are deeply segregated in education and most notably in housing.  We do not share space and we have an uneasy co-existence rather than a togetherness as a people.

On a recent visit to New York I discovered that our sectarian segregation in the North is more acute than the racial segregation that characterises the well know Harlem district in that City.

Mr Chairman, I believe if Northern Ireland is to overcome this dysfunctionalism, it must strive for a Shared Future where its people are more integrated, and can develop a positive common vision for the future while celebrating their diversity.

However, a Shared Future will not evolve on its own – it must be built.  Divisions have to be bridged.

As part of our New Housing Agenda we therefore aim to deliver as many newbuild, social and affordable housing schemes as possible, where the occupants are from mixed traditions, and are signed up to a ‘Shared Future’ charter.

Our prototype for this model was Carran Crescent a small social housing development in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.  This has been an award-winning success and augurs well for the future.

We will develop this model further and extend it to as many newbuild developments as possible over the next 3 years.

We also have plans to convert many existing social housing developments to Shared Future status.  This is where tenants and owner-occupiers will pledge to share their neighbourhoods in a spirit of co-operation, respect and mutual support.

We have identified some 30 of these established areas initially – for the ‘Shared Future’ treatment.

However, Shared Future is not just about bringing together different political traditions.  We are divided and separated in other ways as well.

We are therefore also committed to more mixed tenure developments so that social and affordable housing becomes de-stigmatised.  There are still too many class and income-related divisions between people, in terms of where they live.

We are also progressing the introduction of a developer contribution – something that already operates in the South of Ireland and in Britain – so that the private sector can contribute better to the provision of social and affordable – as well as market priced housing.

I am pleased that already some major developers in the North are offering a contribution on a voluntary basis and accepting also the desirability of mixed tenure and ‘pepper-potting’.  Making sure that the social and affordable housing is indistinguishable from the rest.

Having a Shared Future in housing also means, literally, helping people to get their fair share.  So another plank in our New Housing Agenda is to help people – particularly young people – get onto the housing ladder and help them stay there.  

We are therefore putting substantial effort and support into co ownership and equity sharing.  And for some who need temporary assistance we will establish a mortgage rescue scheme.

When people own their own home have a tangible, physical stake in their community.  That makes for a stronger more cohesive community.  

We also want the homeless and others in housing stress to share in the Future, so we are expanding the Social Housing Newbuild programme substantially in the years ahead.  And our extra houses will be built to higher standards and will be more sustainable than ever before.

I am also looking at specific ways of helping our growing ethnic minority groups in Northern Ireland.  Our new citizens make a major contribution to the enrichment of our communities and our economy.  We must not forget to incorporate their priorities and aspirations into our Shared Future.

Mr Chairman, as I alluded to earlier, I greatly welcome opportunities to meet with my counterparts and also with wider audiences in the South.

I have found this event every interesting.

I am greatly impressed with the turnout you have achieved in this conference in terms of senior people from Government, the public, private and community sectors - all exchanging ideas and sharing insights.  You have participated in a wide-ranging and stimulating discussion over this last day and a half and I am sure our various organisations will benefit from this interaction.

I will now give a commitment to explore in greater detail areas of mutual interest including research on a North/South basis. I have asked my officials to take this forward and to report back to me at the earliest possible date. Minister O’Keefe and myself want to ensure that housing continues to be a priority throughout the Island of Ireland.

As I had a Northern Ireland Executive meeting yesterday, I was not able to attend yesterday’s conference sessions, but I have asked for copies of the papers and presentations.  I look forward to reading them with interest.

This conference has rightly noted the centrality of sustainability in delivering housing and regeneration.  It has also focused on the need for vision and the need to look to the future.

For me however, the key word has been leadership.

We are all leaders here – in Government, in business, in the community.  Whatever the role, our job is to deliver better housing and regeneration

Let us therefore commit ourselves to lead …

Let us lead on to a Shared Future on this Island.

Thank you.