Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Blood Speaks outAuthor(s): Anne MooreSource: Fortnight, No. 385 (May, 2000), p. 9Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25559898 .

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i B RI! E. F I N G ???

Blood

speaks out Anne Moore

When the Government an nounced in 1998 that it had set aside ?540 million (?452 million in England) to deliver Sure Start,

English projects contacted May Blood for the business plan of the EU-funded Early Years Project which she helped pioneer in the Greater Shankill area from 1996.

The irony is that Sure Start was successfully launched in England, but has not even started in North ern Ireland and as a result the

Shankill project and other similar early years projects in Northern Ireland face closure. Speaking during a debate in the House of Lords on 4 April, Baroness Blood outlined a sorry tale of repeated cuts and delays:

"In early 1999 almost ?16 mil lion was set aside by the Govern

ment to implement the Sure Start programme in Northern Ireland. Groups were informed a few months later that as there had been no demand for Sure Start in the Province the money would be used for another purpose. There was no consultation and no expla nation. This unexplained state

ment caused outrage among groups involved in earlyyears pro vision. Representation was made to the Minister to re-think this strange decision. After several

weeks of consultation the Minis ter announced in September 1999 that ?9.8 million would be avail able from April 2000, ?4 million in the year 2000-2001 and ?5.8

million in the year 2001-2002. "While there was certain dis

may at the loss of almost ?6 mil

lion and ayear of the programme, at least groups could now rely on Sure Start money to sustain their projects. However this confidence was again shattered when the projects were informed that the ?4 million promised was to be reduced to ?2 million and that it

would not be available until Sepember 2000 and for six months only . .. There is no guarantee as regards the sum of ?5.8 million.

The problem seems to be that there is a lack of ringfencing to

allow money to be protected within block grant allocation for a particular puirpose. Many doubt that the ?5.8 million in total will ever be made available."

She said later: "Despite the evaluation by Queen's University that the Shankill project repre sents best practice and value for

money, it faces closure because, like the others, it was relying on Sure Start until it could apply to Peace Two for additional fund ing".

The fate of early years pro grammes may not attract the same headlines as the peace process, but Baroness Blood will continue her campaign in the House of Lords to ensure that their vital work on behalf of disadvantaged children is sustained for the fu ture well-being and development of society. She deserves our sup nort r A

It's . .1 en emicl

John O'Farrell One of the most comprehen

sive independent studies of atti tudes to race and ethnicity ever carried out in Northern Ireland has found significant levels of racist attitudes. The independ ent study, carried out by Univer sity of Ulster researchers Dr Paul

Connolly and Dr Michaela Keenan and funded by the North ern Ireland Office, interviewed over 1,250 people in NI about their attitudes to racial and eth nic groups.

The study found that racial at titudes are far from unimportant or insignificant in the minds of people living here. In fact, re spondents were almost twice as likely to express racial prejudice than sectarian prejudice. Twice as many said they would be more unwilling to accept and/or mix with members of minority ethnic communities than they would

with members of the 'other side'. Of course, it's not all that sim

ple. On the one hand, respond ents expressed very positive attitudes towards certain issues. For example, 83% of respond ents supported the need for ef fective equal opportunities policies for minority ethnic mi

norities. 87% felt that children should be taught about minority ethnic people's traditions and cul tures in schools.

On the other hand, a signifi cant minority of respondents ex pressed real negativity racial attitudes when asked about their views of particular minority eth nic groups. For example, over a third of all respondents were un

willing to accept the idea of hav ing an Asian, African Caribbean or Chinese person as a colleague at work, while one in four said they could not accept an African

Caribbean, Chinese or Asian per son as a resident in their local

area; Disturbingly, these attitudes ap

pear to have hardened over re cent years. In a 1995/96 study, 32% said they could not accept a Chinese person as a relative by marriage; this figure has increased to 53%.

Although the non-white com munity in the North is a compara tively recent social phenomenon, one group in particular which has borne the brunt of intolerance continues to do so. 57% said they

would not accept Travellers as residents in their local area, and two-thirds of those surveyed said they would not accept a member of the Traveller community as a work colleague.

In their recommendations, the authors recognise the consider able progress that the Govern

ment has made over recent years regarding race relations in North ern Ireland, particularly the in troduction of the Race Relations (NI) Order in 1997. However, this report shows that much work still needs to be done.

Connolly and Keenan call for: *All public authorities to play

their part in promoting good race relations;

*The Equality Commission to spearhead a broader educational campaign to promote racial aware ness and understanding;

*The Housing Executive to set up local community relations ini tiatives between Travellers and local residents to build up trust and understanding;

*Schools to teach children about other cultures and tradi tions and increase their aware ness and understanding of the problems of racism in society. *

Copies of the report are avail able from the Northern Ire land Statistics and Research

Agency, Social Policy Branch, McAuley House, 2-14 Castle Street, Belfast BT1 1iSA. Cheques for ?10 (includes postage and packaging) should be crossed and made payable to the Department of Finance and Personnel.

MAY 2000 FORTNIGHT 9

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