Not enough being done to help deprived Unionist areas, says DUP MEP
09 January 2006
DUP Member of the European Parliament, Jim Allister QC has claimed that not enough has been done to ensure that working-class Unionist parts of
Jim Allister said:
“I am delighted to be here today to acknowledge the great work undertaken by all of the staff at the Scribbles Day Nursery which is enabling many people who otherwise would not be able to do so, to return to the employment market and advance their career prospects. They are a true success story from the Peace Programme. This has been money well spent, because it gives a lasting economic benefit. Too often money is wasted on transient froth and poured into groups which have done little to deserve it, like ex-prisoners or Irish language groups. But, here, a whole community is being assisted in a worthwhile manner. I trust that the future economic aspects of this programme in Taughmonagh, for which funding has been sought, will be made possible by the granting of that funding.
Regrettably positive stories like this are all too infrequent when it comes to deprived Unionist parts of
I have stated many times that the success of this Peace II Extension period of the programme will be judged by whether or not the long-standing anti-Unionist imbalance in distribution, which has existed up till now, is reversed. I will continue to watch very closely all of the funding announcements that will be made in the days ahead to see if the Unionist community is getting a fair deal. I must say from the limited number of funding announcements already made under the Extension, I am not as encouraged as I hoped I might have been that real change is underway.
It is clear there has been a huge upswing in the number of applications from the Unionist community, but the test now for the funding bodies is whether they can break the habits of the past and reverse the hitherto under-funding of the majority community.”
In a significant move, the DUP MEP suggested that his support for a further stage of the Peace Programme could not be taken for granted:
“As I’ve made clear to SEUPB and others, my attitude to and support for a PEACE III programme will be shaped by whether balanced distribution is obtained under the current Extension. I have no interest in perpetuating discrimination against the unionist community.”
