Good Relation Plans Needed After Broadway Unrest - Alliance

Alliance Executive Office Spokesperson, Paula Bradshaw, has warned that unrest in South Belfast highlights the urgency of reviewing Good Relations programmes and delivering an enhanced Good Relations Strategy.

Following the disorder seen just after the Twelfth around the Broadway area of South Belfast, Paula Bradshaw has said that there "is still a lot of work to do". She added that: "Sometimes 'Good Relations' is seen as an easy issue, which is only prioritised when it comes to cutting the budget for it."

In a statement the South Belfast MLA said:

"It is unfortunate, therefore, that we have seen so little evidence of progress on reviewing Good Relations programmes over the past decade or so, and applying the learning from such reviews to an enhanced and fully funded Good Relations strategy. This needs to be much higher in the First Minister's and deputy First Minister's in-tray.

"There is, sadly, little evidence of any urgency around this since restoration. The fact is, however, that we should long ago have done more to tackle predictable tensions. Good Relations and broader reconciliation remain key priorities in a society recovering from conflict such as ours. This is not a matter of what we can afford to do, but what we can afford not to do."