Browne announces £3 million funding to develop North Belfast communities - 13 November 2002
A £3 million funding package aimed at developing communities in north Belfast to encourage dialogue and partnership, was announced today by the Minister with responsibility for Community Relations, Des Browne, MP.
Speaking during a visit to a north Belfast cross community youth scheme run by the ‘Partnership for Community Transformation’, he said dialogue remained the key ingredient in dealing with the long term difficulties facing the area. Mr Browne said: "The North Belfast Community Action Unit has initiated a number of projects to encourage communities to work together in partnership and address local issues. This particular project, with valuable input from local schools and churches, focuses on individual young people, helping them to recognise how violence begins and to learn how to resolve differences."
"In recognising that we must help communities to enter meaningful dialogue, we are allocating £3 million for next year to enable local people to develop the necessary skills to best represent their areas. Before we decide how this funding should be used I am inviting the local community to have an input into the planning process so that the new programme can be introduced as quickly as possible."
"The proposal for a capacity building programme was one of the main recommendations in the Report of the North Belfast Community Action Project, which was chaired by Rev John Dunlop. I agree with Reverend Dunlop and his team that North Belfast, an area of major social and economic disadvantage, needs a specific capacity building programme for those areas in which it is weak in addition to maintaining community activity where it is working well."
Mr Browne also referred to the report of the independent arbitrators on aspects of community safety in Ardoyne. He said: "The independent arbitrators, who had been appointed by the former First Minister and Deputy First Minister, made a number of recommendations. I have considered these and feedback from both communities on the arbitrators’ report.
"I strongly believe that the way forward to a lasting solution at this interface is through community dialogue. Concerns about community safety can only be solved in the long term by both communities working together in an atmosphere of trust and confidence. Last summer, elected and community representatives agreed a set of principles to build trust and confidence which included a commitment to develop a community forum for the area. I think that this would be a very positive development, but recognise that further work needs to be done to build up the capacity of both communities. I have therefore asked the North Belfast Community Action Unit to work with the Ardoyne and Upper Ardoyne communities on a programme of community capacity building to seek a basis for future progress.
"I have also decided to construct a fence and plant trees behind houses on Hesketh Road at the boundary of the Everton complex. I believe that this should help to allay community safety concerns in this area. I am making arrangements for this work to begin as soon as possible.
"I have very carefully considered the proposal to build a wall/fence around houses at the corner of Ardoyne Road/Alliance Avenue and decided not to proceed with this since it has not found sufficient community consensus.
"It is my hope that by encouraging dialogue between communities we can transform attitudes away from violence towards resolving differences and thereby removing the need for the construction of physical barriers. To build trust and confidence, we need dialogue, but to achieve this we need to develop and empower local communities – that’s what the North Belfast Community Capacity Building programme is all about."
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Mr Browne announced the £3 million funding during a visit to a north Belfast youth intervention project. This project, which received initial funding from the North Belfast Community Action Unit, will be supported for the next two years by the Community Relations Council.
The £3 million funding will allow for the development of a programme of community capacity building in North Belfast.
The Report of the north Belfast Community Action Project, chaired by Rev John Dunlop, was published on 28 May 2002. The Report is available on the website www.northbelfastcommunityactionunit.org
The report of the independent arbitrators on community safety measures was accepted by the former First Minister and Deputy First Minister on 23 August 2002. It is available from the Press Release archive on www.northernireland.gov.uk for 23 August 2002.
