Former Sports Minister hits out at football comments

Former Sports Minister, Michael McGimpsey has hit out at comments made by the Alliance Party in which it said not enough was being done at club level to deal with the problem of sectarianism in Irish League football.

The Alliance Party made their criticism as they launched a response to the Government consultation document on community relations, entitled 'A Shared Future'.

The response follows the visit by two Alliance delegations to Scotland earlier in the week on a fact-finding mission dealing with sectarianism.

The purpose of the visit was to see how Scotland has dealt with sectarianism in recent years, and to learn from the Scottish experience.

However, Mr McGimpsey was unimpressed with their comments. He said: "Football is the biggest game in Northern Ireland. It is truly the peoples' game. It has so much to offer society and is the one sport in Northern Ireland that is played and watched by all classes and creeds.

“The playing staff of every Irish League club is a great example of cross-community co-operation. A great deal of work has been and is being done to promote football as a vehicle for improved community relations. In focusing on the beautiful game, Alliance have once again, picked the wrong target.

“Rather than running off to Scotland, the Alliance Party would do well to actually attend some matches in Northern Ireland, talk to the fans and those involved in the Irish League and then - and only then - issue statements.”

Earlier in the day, Alliance leader David Ford called for a major shift in thinking to ensure that community relations lies at the heart of government policy decisions.

He described the 'A Shared Future' document as "weak" on specific policy areas.

(MB)