Republican News · Thursday 31 January 2002

Legislation alone will not end structural inequality

Sinn Féin's Bairbre de Brún welcomed a seminar held at Queen's University Belfast on Wednesday 19 March, as "an important contribution to the vital work of ensuring a future based on equality for all". The seminar, titled Researching Inequality: Themes and Issues, was organised by the Centre for Social Research.

De Brún, the party's spokesperson on Human Rights and Equality issues, attended the conference in Belfast with party colleague Dara O'Hagan. Both stressed the importance of economic investment and development, particularly in areas of high social deprivation.

"To make progress on the commitments to equality in the Good Friday Agreement, particularly where economic development is concerned, we need to focus on those communities consistently let down by the promise of change in the past," said de Brún. "If we cannot break the cycle in these areas, then it won't happen at all."

Dara O'Hagan warned that legislation, while crucial, is not in itself sufficient to tackle structured discrimination. She said:

"While legislation is clearly necessary of itself it is not sufficient to tackle structural inequalities. To do that effectively there needs to be a coordinated and integrated strategy involving legislation and economic and social policies.

"Equality cannot be simply an illusion. There must be full accountability for equality measures; genuine and full participation to ensure that citizens feel their concerns are taken into account and reflected in decisions that affect them; goals and timetables for its implementation, and regular review and assessment of progress and impact.

"Sinn Féin has, therefore, worked through negotiations at the highest level, through ongoing campaigning to improve the delivery of the equality agenda, and through our everyday work with those communities at the 'hard end ', as they strive to bring about real, positive and lasting change. We need to see regeneration initiatives for such communities, worked out with these communities, with targets and timetables for the outcomes sought."