The Shared Future
I've taken a first look at the First and Deputy First Minister's
Lots of it is on the "motherhood and apple pie" level. It's good to hear that the First and Deputy First will not tolerate "any form of hate crime or intimidation". But frankly it would have been shocking if they had declared anything else.
Nothing could be more relevant than their pledge to address "the issues for disaffected young people", but aspiring to reach out to the alienated youth living at interfaces is one thing. Achieving it is another.
Amongst the key goals of the programme are urgently addressing "the physical and community division created by interfaces with the support of the communities". So is this a pledge to meet the challenge thrown out by the New York Mayor Bloomberg at the Stormont US Investment Conference, when he called on Belfast to bring down its walls?
Well not quite. When you dig into what the First and Deputy First Ministers view as short, medium and long term priorities, you find that developing "shared space" and tackling anti social behaviour around interfaces is a short term goal. However "interfaces" per se, encouraging shared neighbourhoods and tackling issues around cultural identity such as "flags and emblems, murals, bonfires, cultural expression, language and popular protest" are all lumped into the "long term" basket.
The programme refers to the need to update the April 2005 Flags Protocol and promises that a new Justice Bill will deal with sectarain behaviour at spectator sports.
There are plenty of references to racial and cultural minorities, but nothing I can see about gay groups - so it looks like their fears about not being specifically covered were well founded. (UPDATE: I should, however, point out that on Page 4 the ministers "agree to publish a sexual orientation strategy")
And when you get towards the end of the paper there are sections on funding which contain nothing specific in the way of financial pledges but plenty of language designed to dampen expectations. "In times of economic stress" we are told "government and community must work together to make more improvement with fewer resources". There is an acknowledgement that sources of money such as Europe and the International Fund for Ireland are drying up.
So without cash, can this policy be anything more than aspirational? Although given the cost of the summer riots is it an area of government we can afford to skimp on? You have until October to give the Executive your views.
I'm 
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