T:BUC: Leadership

Oral Answers to Questions — Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 2:15 pm on 1 February 2016.

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Photo of Gregory Campbell Gregory Campbell Shadow DUP Spokesperson (International Development), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office) 2:15, 1 February 2016

9. Mr Campbell asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister how they are showing leadership in progressing the Together: Building a United Community strategy. (AQO 9502/11-16)

Photo of Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin

Achieving our vision of a united community based on equality of opportunity, the desirability of good relations and reconciliation requires collective commitment and effort from everyone. Government must work alongside statutory, voluntary, community and private sector partners to achieve the shared vision and aims of the strategy. We acknowledge that continuing political leadership is crucial to the effective implementation of this strategy, and we will continue to give the leadership and drive forward this important agenda. Much wider than this, however, is the need to have a collaborative approach across society: everyone in society has a role in progressing this work, and everyone can make a contribution to achieving positive good relations outcomes and to building a united, shared and reconciled community.

Photo of Gregory Campbell Gregory Campbell Shadow DUP Spokesperson (International Development), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)

The deputy First Minister indicated that everyone has a role to play, and that is welcome. How does he feel, while trying to show forward thinking and leadership to bring the community together, about the former terrorist who, when questioned by police in the Republic on Friday, followed his lead by declining to give any information about a person, still alive, who had been involved in the Birmingham pub bombs — given that the deputy First Minister took exactly the same stance when he was in the box at the Saville inquiry by refusing to name anyone involved in terrorism with him?

Photo of Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin

Sometimes, I think that this particular Member does not understand that he is asking a question of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. I am here to answer on behalf of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. I do not believe that his question is in any way appropriate.

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

Order. I call Mr Chris Lyttle.

Photo of Chris Lyttle Chris Lyttle Alliance

I thank the deputy First Minister for his answer. Why, three years on from the publication of the Together: Building a United Community strategy, has the Department failed to introduce an enhanced good relations impact assessment for all Executive policies to ensure sharing over separation in all policies?

Photo of Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin

Huge progress is being made on the Together: Building a United Community policy strategy. The very substantial funds that we have allocated over five years are a clear indicator of our absolute belief in the need to ensure that good relations is regarded as a priority for the Executive. On the particular strategy that the Member mentioned, the delivery mechanisms that are now in place under the auspices of the ministerial panel are about putting in place not just the pilot projects but the very proactive structures and strategies that are required to ensure the ongoing bringing together of our community. If there is a particular aspect of that that concerns the Member, we are quite willing to meet him and discuss it.

Photo of Cathal Boylan Cathal Boylan Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. What is the funding situation with the implementation of this strategy?

Photo of Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin

In my earlier answers, I clearly indicated that very substantial funds are available for the programme. Building a United Community represents a key building block of the Programme for Government. In recognition of this, £10 million revenue funding was made available in the 2015-16 Budget to aid implementation of the strategy, supplementing other good relations funding provided by OFMDFM. In addition, £1·27 million of capital funding was secured to enable Departments to progress work on the headline actions. Following ministerial approval of proposals, the subsequent allocations enabled officials to progress with the headline actions as well as various funding programmes.

As I indicated, the recent Fresh Start Agreement committed to the provision of £60 million over five years in support of the Executive's delivery of confidence- and relationship-building measures within and between communities contributing to the creation of a shared future. We are working with other Departments to identify their financial requirements, which will enable consideration in 2016-17 of proposed allocations of the £12 million available to us.

Photo of John Dallat John Dallat Social Democratic and Labour Party

As Building a United Community is the responsibility of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, I hope that the children were all safely in their classrooms and did not hear the exchanges between Mr Campbell and the deputy First Minister. Does the deputy First Minister agree that this is the most serious subject, because children are our greatest asset, and the present generation do not deserve to be lured into the terrible deeds of the past? Does he also agree that summer camps on their own are only a beginning and that much more needs to be done?

Photo of Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin

I absolutely agree with the Member about the importance of the strategy. I agree that the huge priority in all this is the future of our young people. In the Assembly today, we have had young people involved in politics from three schools: two in Enniskillen and one in Omagh. Some of them were here for the early stages of this session. The Member is absolutely right. All of us have a duty and a responsibility to recognise the importance of building a better future. Unfortunately, a tiny number of Members are only really interested in recrimination and are not interested in reconciliation. That is very sad.

I spoke about this at the weekend at the Kinsale Peace Project in County Cork in a hugely well-attended conversation between me and people who are interested in what is happening here, particularly in the peace process. During that engagement, a man stepped forward and informed the audience that he is a former member of the Grenadier Guards. He was very generous in his remarks, and we shook hands. Encouragement comes from the fact that many people in our society were previously at odds with one another but recognise the need to be involved in this sort of work. The others, we can leave behind.

Photo of Mitchel McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Speaker

That ends the period for listed questions. We now move on to topical questions.