:00:43. > :00:45.In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionists hold their annual
:00:45. > :00:49.conference - but where next for the party?
:00:49. > :00:59.The final week in the race for Irish President - and is Stormont
:00:59. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :30:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1784 seconds
:30:43. > :30:48.doing enough to break down barriers Hello and welcome to The Politics
:30:48. > :30:50.Show. The electoral pact between the Ulster Unionist Party and the
:30:50. > :30:54.Conservatives' lead to disastrous results for the party at the last
:30:54. > :30:58.Westminster election. As the Ulster Unionist party faithful gathered in
:30:59. > :31:02.Armagh for their party conference, Tom Eliot called for a strong and
:31:02. > :31:06.united party. But could an invitation to the Secretary of
:31:06. > :31:10.State being the party wants to rekindle its links with the Tories?
:31:10. > :31:13.David Cameron and I are quite clear that we would like to bring
:31:13. > :31:17.Northern Ireland to the mainstream of national politics. We have been
:31:17. > :31:21.absolutely clear about that. How we go about that is subject to
:31:21. > :31:25.discussion. Also: At the latest in the race for
:31:25. > :31:28.the Irish presidency. And we will find out what more
:31:28. > :31:33.community workers believe could be done by our politicians to improve
:31:33. > :31:37.relations on interfaces. Some of the things inspire me to think very
:31:37. > :31:45.positive but there is still no policy in place, there is still no
:31:45. > :31:49.real genuine commitment on policy direction. That makes it quite
:31:49. > :31:55.direction. That makes it quite direction. That makes it quite
:31:55. > :31:58.diffident -- difficult. And the Secretary of State Owen Paterson
:31:58. > :32:02.dropped into the Ulster Unionist Party conference and on my estate.
:32:03. > :32:09.It surprised some, who thought the power to's next to a Conservatives
:32:09. > :32:16.had been killed off because of poor electoral results. -- party's links
:32:16. > :32:20.to the Conservatives. Where is the Crown? Here is the
:32:20. > :32:25.harp. This is as close as we could come. The Secretary of State turned
:32:25. > :32:30.up, even though he was trying to play down his presence. I have a
:32:30. > :32:34.number of engagements in the Armagh airier and out of courtesy I have
:32:34. > :32:39.dropped by to have a word with Tom and his colleagues. By you trying
:32:39. > :32:43.to rekindle links between the two parties? That is really one for the
:32:43. > :32:51.chairman to decide. Gerard discussions between the two
:32:51. > :32:56.chairman. What is happening? A bat is to be addressed to the party
:32:56. > :33:00.chairman. David Cameron and I have been quite clear that we would like
:33:01. > :33:05.to bring Northern Ireland to the mainstream of British politics. How
:33:05. > :33:09.we go about that is up for discussion but happily for me, I
:33:09. > :33:16.have responsibilities that don't include running the Conservative
:33:16. > :33:25.Party. Owen Paterson got a warm welcome. So, is something going on?
:33:25. > :33:28.Hill better to ask than the man who was once a big advocate. We keep
:33:28. > :33:32.hearing this scheme is dead but his presence today will rekindle
:33:32. > :33:38.speculation that there are those who still want formal links between
:33:38. > :33:43.the two parties. I have always felt it was sensible, because we are a
:33:43. > :33:48.Unionist Party and therefore, why would we wish to cut ourselves off
:33:48. > :33:54.from national politics? In the House of Lords, it is not the front
:33:54. > :33:58.line, but whenever it comes to a vote, it is how many people you can
:33:58. > :34:02.get into the lobby. The Conservatives in the House of Lords
:34:03. > :34:10.are looking for support and I take their whip and I do support them. I
:34:10. > :34:14.have saved them at least twice personally. So I think it makes
:34:14. > :34:18.sense for the long-term strategic interests of Unionism to have a
:34:18. > :34:22.connection to an assured Parliament. But mention of the Tory links still
:34:22. > :34:28.causes nervousness. I believe there should be some sort of co-operation
:34:28. > :34:33.between the Tories but to be honest I was never a great fan of the
:34:33. > :34:36.link-up with the Tories in the form a we had previously. But there has
:34:36. > :34:40.to be an understanding and I think we could work about. Our party
:34:40. > :34:45.needs to unite behind Our Leader and then those other things can be
:34:45. > :34:50.thought about. Were you a fan of the Tory link? No, I was concerned
:34:50. > :34:54.about it because I felt we were going to lose our identity.
:34:54. > :34:59.Conservatives were not mentioned in the leader's speech, but he did
:34:59. > :35:04.call for unity. Our recovery depends on two key elements - a
:35:04. > :35:10.strong, disciplined party and a clear, it relevant platform for
:35:10. > :35:14.good performance. And there is one other element - if members of this
:35:14. > :35:20.party do not stand shoulder to shoulder and quote from the same
:35:20. > :35:27.agenda, then we will continue to damage ourselves. Teamwork and
:35:27. > :35:31.unity of purpose is essential in this party, and we can only succeed
:35:31. > :35:35.if we do it together, acting in the spirit of co-operation and goodwill.
:35:35. > :35:39.A wherever the Ulster Unionists are heading, one thing is certain -
:35:39. > :35:43.they cannot stay where they are. They have got to give people a
:35:44. > :35:49.reason to vote for them again. But how do they do it? That is what a
:35:49. > :35:53.sizable number of delegates packed into this room one to know. They
:35:53. > :35:57.discussed going into opposition and repositioning the party on the
:35:57. > :36:01.centre-right. I think it is a useful thing that people like us
:36:02. > :36:07.come to rooms like this and hauled up politics in the open. The
:36:07. > :36:12.shadows and dark filled rooms are where others do it. We do it in the
:36:12. > :36:16.light. We do it where it can be seen and I think that is positive
:36:16. > :36:20.for Northern Ireland politics. wonder if you followed the vox pop
:36:20. > :36:26.from the people in the hall today, would you get a general instinct of
:36:26. > :36:29.what this party really is? It has made mistakes along the way because
:36:30. > :36:35.we have taken risks for the benefits of peace in the future. We
:36:35. > :36:41.need to set out our vision. Where are we going? Job creation. What is
:36:41. > :36:45.the feature of this party? A member of the audience was concerned that
:36:45. > :36:51.media would misinterpret the meeting as a split. This is a
:36:52. > :36:56.discussion for the future. But make that clear so that people don't go
:36:56. > :37:00.out and splash that across the headlines. I accept your concerns
:37:00. > :37:06.but I think that to an extent, it is a risk that goes with the
:37:06. > :37:11.territory. Save for the simple media, there is no split. Perhaps
:37:11. > :37:21.it was a date that should have been held on the main stage. Not this
:37:21. > :37:22.
:37:22. > :37:27.year, but maybe next time. So then hopefuls, one job. This
:37:27. > :37:31.time next week, we will know the identity of the new Irish President.
:37:31. > :37:38.But the home straight in a poll for the park has been anything but
:37:38. > :37:42.straightforward. The prize is within touching
:37:42. > :37:46.distance, but it has been a week of speed bumps for all the
:37:46. > :37:51.presidential candidates. Dana Rosemary Scallon's campaign Castle
:37:51. > :37:55.the day tyre blow-out. Gay Mitchell was stopped in his tracks when he
:37:55. > :38:00.stumbled into a lingerie shop in Limerick. And Mary Davis hit the
:38:00. > :38:04.brakes to voice heard frustration at having to defend our membership
:38:04. > :38:12.of company boards. But the membership is out of fuel for David
:38:12. > :38:16.Norris who says he has been cleaned out of his funds for the campaign.
:38:16. > :38:21.Martin McGuinness is denying a raft of claims in connection with his
:38:21. > :38:26.Republican past. Sean Gallagher has been bought back to the scene of a
:38:26. > :38:29.Fine Gael fund-raising dinner he attended in 2008. And then there is
:38:29. > :38:37.Michael D Higgins, who has ruled out hitting his campaign to any
:38:37. > :38:42.chance for a pact. The final lap lies ahead.
:38:42. > :38:46.This summer's riots in east Belfast and Ardoyne underlined the problems
:38:46. > :38:49.which still exist in some of our interfaces. So what is the Assembly
:38:49. > :38:53.doing to help communities live together peacefully? One programme
:38:53. > :38:57.that has been talked about for several years now, and which has
:38:57. > :39:03.yet to be uprooted, is the Cohesion, Sharing and Integration programme.
:39:03. > :39:13.-- has yet to bear fruit. Yvette Shapiro has been to meet one group
:39:13. > :39:29.
:39:29. > :39:35.in West Belfast that is regarded as MUSIC PLAYS THIS road in West
:39:35. > :39:38.Belfast marks the border of two communities.
:39:38. > :39:42.One has 7,000 communities -- residents, but the other only a few
:39:42. > :39:47.hundred. This used to be one of the worst flashpoints for sectarian
:39:48. > :39:53.violence. This group grew out of contact between the residents in
:39:53. > :39:58.the mid- 1990s. Funding secured to rebuild these derelict shops,
:39:58. > :40:07.building a shared space. Is a real symbol of when Northern Ireland and
:40:07. > :40:13.the community and voluntary sector have come from. We are policy start
:40:13. > :40:19.in this area. We had the recent strategy meeting, which is being
:40:19. > :40:24.reviewed. But in the lack of any strategy or policy, people will
:40:24. > :40:29.forge ahead to try to make their lives better. The most important
:40:29. > :40:32.thing is to decide who is going to be Santa. These were among the
:40:32. > :40:39.first residents to begin contact. For many years, this interface was
:40:39. > :40:43.desolate. I described it like no man's land. There was no interest
:40:43. > :40:49.from any government departments or agencies to put any investment in
:40:49. > :40:55.to it. It was left as his. When we came together and formed this
:40:55. > :40:58.company, wet we end livened. We put new heart into this area. They say
:40:58. > :41:03.it is important they group has no party political influence, but they
:41:03. > :41:06.want government to start taking the lead. Some of the things we have
:41:06. > :41:11.seen happening in Stormont have been very positive but there still
:41:11. > :41:15.is no policy in place, no real genuine commitment or policy
:41:15. > :41:20.direction towards shared working. That makes it difficult for people
:41:20. > :41:24.like us on the ground sometimes to know where we are going. It was a
:41:24. > :41:32.major blow to the pot as the community in Suffolk when this
:41:32. > :41:36.primary school closed in 2008. -- Protestant community. By the end,
:41:36. > :41:41.only 40 children remained. Most children from the area are now sent
:41:41. > :41:46.out to schools elsewhere, returning her home by bus at the end of the
:41:46. > :41:50.day. But the Interface Group has big plans for the site - they are
:41:50. > :42:00.applying for funding to build an integrated nursery school, did
:42:00. > :42:05.
:42:05. > :42:07.bring children from both sides of These teenagers have formed a real
:42:07. > :42:12.friendships through their involvement in cross-community
:42:12. > :42:15.project. Sometimes Catholics and Protestants would not normally mix
:42:15. > :42:19.together and would think there was to be to the, and I think it is
:42:19. > :42:24.good that we get to know each other and get to know our similar
:42:24. > :42:27.interests, about we are all the same. It helps to build
:42:27. > :42:31.relationships and appreciate diversity between other communities
:42:31. > :42:40.- and not as Catholic and President - a Protestant, but other
:42:40. > :42:44.minorities. We have X UDA people and X IRA people and we have done
:42:44. > :42:50.all that and it helps a lot because we get into the's opinions and
:42:50. > :42:53.views on it. I have not had so much as one parent phone me up and say
:42:53. > :42:58.they did not want a young person to be involved, debeaked interacting
:42:58. > :43:02.with people from the other side. I must admit that that has been a
:43:02. > :43:07.very, very pleasant surprise for myself and I have had overwhelming
:43:07. > :43:10.support from both communities. There are still occasional flash
:43:10. > :43:14.points along the interface during the summer months, and there are
:43:14. > :43:17.still people of both communities to reject the idea of shared space.
:43:17. > :43:21.But there is no doubt that this once troubled area has been
:43:21. > :43:26.transformed by the efforts of its own residents.
:43:26. > :43:30.I am joined by the junior minister Jonathan Bell. Are you embarrassed
:43:30. > :43:35.to see groups like that getting on with the job, getting the work done,
:43:35. > :43:39.with little government funding? state the issue of government
:43:39. > :43:44.funding first of all. Under the last comprehensive spending review,
:43:44. > :43:48.21 million. What is it today? 30 million. I am proud of the fact
:43:48. > :43:54.that we have put extra money into anti- sectarianism and anti- racism
:43:54. > :44:02.work. It is designed to build a better shared future for us all.
:44:02. > :44:07.There is a 30% increase in funding over 2008-2011. Is that all
:44:07. > :44:15.government money or is it European money? That is government money. We
:44:15. > :44:23.have European money. 88.7 million euros over a particular programme
:44:23. > :44:27.has been spent. We are flying into Brussels, pressing them for an
:44:27. > :44:32.extension to deliver what we are doing and that money is working
:44:32. > :44:35.together. Because sometimes we don't have the nouns and verbs and
:44:35. > :44:39.adjectives in the correct order on the document, it doesn't mean we
:44:40. > :44:46.haven't been doing the job. Why is it taking so long? The first
:44:46. > :44:56.mention of this was in 2005, their consultation in 2007. A year since
:44:56. > :45:02.the consultation ended, still nothing. There are areas about this
:45:02. > :45:05.work. The first is a practice. On small schemes, we have half a
:45:05. > :45:08.million pounds but in the summer period into young people and
:45:08. > :45:14.interface groups in Belfast which has been highly successful, in
:45:14. > :45:20.terms of taking people away from conflict situations. We still had
:45:20. > :45:23.terrible riots but not as bad as before. Northern Ireland is
:45:23. > :45:28.experiencing the lowest level of violence that has experienced in my
:45:28. > :45:32.lifetime. But significant community problems existed in east Belfast,
:45:32. > :45:36.which blew up into what the boy said weather may significant riots
:45:37. > :45:42.in 10 years. But overall, we have had the lowest level of violence in
:45:42. > :45:47.our generation. We have got to see the implementation of work on the
:45:47. > :45:56.ground. The increase of work that the Interface Group you mentioned
:45:56. > :46:02.is doing is amazing. People working hard on the ground, right across
:46:02. > :46:07.the airier, promoting proper anti- sectarianism and anti- racism
:46:07. > :46:10.agendas club building a shared future. So what you are saying is
:46:10. > :46:14.that the book on the ground are doing the Government's work, to
:46:14. > :46:18.save you having to produce a document? I cannot praise the
:46:18. > :46:22.people on the ground enough. They are doing the work and doing it
:46:22. > :46:27.well. We have rewarded the good work they have done because we have
:46:27. > :46:33.increased their budget in the most austere times, from 21 million to
:46:33. > :46:37.30 million. How long can that be guaranteed? Most of the groups we
:46:37. > :46:41.have spoken to say the government is not doing enough. They say they
:46:41. > :46:48.are doing it without government funding and doing it themselves.
:46:48. > :46:55.can show you a spreadsheet that shows how we have taken from 2008-
:46:55. > :47:00.2011, and we have put an extra 30 million -- an extra �10 million. We
:47:00. > :47:05.have got a five party working group and we are working every single
:47:05. > :47:10.week, with high-level representation, and we hope to get
:47:10. > :47:14.this document correctly done with the right to nouns, adjectives and
:47:15. > :47:21.verbs and get a proper document out in 2012, which will drive forward,
:47:21. > :47:24.in policy terms, good relations. And that will take it up to seven
:47:24. > :47:30.years since all of this started. The we are further than we have
:47:30. > :47:34.ever been before. The Ulster Unionists, SDLP and their
:47:34. > :47:39.administrations could not even get a document out. We have got a
:47:39. > :47:43.document out to consultation and we have 280 responses. If you ask the
:47:43. > :47:49.but to respond and you get 280 responses, you should take time to
:47:49. > :47:52.consider them. People said poor structure, lack of clarity on aims,
:47:52. > :47:57.a strong feeling from the public that you will go ahead and do what
:47:57. > :48:01.you want no matter what they say. That is a damning indictment on a
:48:01. > :48:06.public consultation exercise. welcome constructive criticism. I
:48:06. > :48:11.am on the ground in north Belfast. I have been out talking to people
:48:11. > :48:17.and listening. There have been some things said. I worked as a social
:48:17. > :48:21.worker with disengaged young people for 21 years. Those people told me
:48:21. > :48:26.the document was badly structured towards young people and it did not
:48:26. > :48:31.recognise young people's contribution. As a result of that
:48:31. > :48:37.constructive criticism, we will have a better document in 2012. We
:48:37. > :48:39.have got the document out, we have 280 responses and we have got a
:48:39. > :48:44.consultant working on it and we have got all the parties in
:48:44. > :48:48.Stormont working at a high level, every single week. We have ring-
:48:48. > :48:53.fenced our time every week to get this document, which we can
:48:53. > :48:59.hopefully producing 2012. The good relations were it to a dress
:48:59. > :49:03.sectarianism and racism, which is being done on the ground, his work
:49:03. > :49:10.that must continue. We must continue to fund it and that is
:49:10. > :49:15.what we are committed to do. We had Irish described as a foreign
:49:15. > :49:20.language. We had up criticism of a Sinn Fein colleague for chasing
:49:20. > :49:25.rainbows and being a royal watcher - it is not a very good example.
:49:25. > :49:29.look for the academic base and the knowledge base which are the good
:49:30. > :49:34.relations indicators. They are coming back to us telling us 88% of
:49:34. > :49:38.people want to live in shared spaces. A young people want to make
:49:38. > :49:41.a positive contribution. But should the language in the chamber not be
:49:41. > :49:45.more mature and rise above the sort of language you would expect on the
:49:45. > :49:55.streets? What I want to see all of us to ring - and we are all
:49:55. > :49:56.
:49:56. > :50:00.collectively doing - is building an anti- sectarianism, anti- racism
:50:00. > :50:04.policy based on shared and good relations. So it is just for show
:50:04. > :50:08.in the Assembly? You get on well behind the scenes but you are just
:50:08. > :50:12.having a pop at each other. five parties are working coherently
:50:12. > :50:17.and constructively with the to that. We have further to go but the good
:50:17. > :50:19.work must continue on the ground. There are heroic people working
:50:19. > :50:26.individually in their communities who are building a better, shared
:50:26. > :50:28.feature. On the tightest budget round, we have given them an extra