Browse content similar to 16/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to the programme. Coming up this week - as a leading | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
Catholic Grammar says no surrender on selection, we ask the Education | 0:00:22 | 0:00:28 | |
Minister where we go from here. A US dating agency thinks our men are | 0:00:28 | 0:00:33 | |
ugly. They should see our economy! And - why are we still waiting for | 0:00:33 | 0:00:40 | |
the Cohesion and Sharing Plan to build a more integrated society? | 0:00:40 | 0:00:42 | |
The open revolt by one of Belfast's leading Catholic Grammars against | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
the ending of selection is a kick in teeth for the Church hierarchy | 0:00:46 | 0:00:49 | |
and for the Education Minister, who has used the Church's opposition to | 0:00:49 | 0:00:53 | |
testing to lend weight to his own position. So where does this leave | 0:00:53 | 0:01:02 | |
us? John O'Dowd is here. It's a bit of a kick in the teeth? Certainly | 0:01:02 | 0:01:08 | |
not for me. I want them to support their own policy of academic | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
selection. There is either one sector or several. I would like to | 0:01:11 | 0:01:16 | |
think I'm dealing with one, but it's a classic example and it | 0:01:16 | 0:01:24 | |
deserves further study. St Dominic's is selective and 15% of | 0:01:24 | 0:01:32 | |
the pupils are on free school meals. St Rose's nearly 60% of the pupils | 0:01:32 | 0:01:37 | |
have free school meals. If there isn't a better argument for taking | 0:01:37 | 0:01:42 | |
down the wall -- They say they work together closely and say they | 0:01:42 | 0:01:49 | |
they've shared resources. I would like to know how the young children | 0:01:49 | 0:01:54 | |
and the pupils, have they gained anything? I've no doubt that St | 0:01:54 | 0:01:56 | |
Dominic's is an excellent education centre and St Rose's, but the | 0:01:56 | 0:02:01 | |
question I have to ask is why do I need both? Why do I need a school | 0:02:01 | 0:02:06 | |
separated by a wall and we talk a lot in society about removing walls. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:11 | |
Why not remove the wall between education? The simple answer, pair | 0:02:11 | 0:02:18 | |
rants want it. The parents want access to excellent education and I | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
don't disparage any parent for doing that, but what the Church is | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
saying and the unions and many, many educationalists are saying, | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
that can be achieved without the need for selection. Parents don't | 0:02:29 | 0:02:34 | |
believe you. It's not a case of belief. It is. It's about choice. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:39 | |
They are saying they like selection. Pair reapbts like access to good | 0:02:39 | 0:02:44 | |
schools. Certain -- parents like access to good schools. Certainly | 0:02:44 | 0:02:48 | |
schools are placing barriers. St Dominic's places a barrier to their | 0:02:48 | 0:02:57 | |
school. It has been proven time and again that you don't need academic | 0:02:57 | 0:03:03 | |
selection to provide excellent education. Is St Dominic's Board of | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
Governors telling society that their staff and school can't teach | 0:03:07 | 0:03:11 | |
all-ability children? The Bishop is saying it's up to the church to | 0:03:11 | 0:03:15 | |
persuade parents that selection is a thing of the past. That has | 0:03:15 | 0:03:18 | |
clearly been a complete failure. The parents think this is very | 0:03:18 | 0:03:24 | |
immediate. The Church has to give leadership and the Church failed in | 0:03:24 | 0:03:28 | |
the most recent report they published. Not only did they let | 0:03:29 | 0:03:33 | |
down many, many people and we have seen the reaction. You mentioned | 0:03:33 | 0:03:39 | |
they didn't give any kind of timetable for putting an end to | 0:03:39 | 0:03:43 | |
selection. The time is over on selection. People want to see | 0:03:43 | 0:03:48 | |
action. That includes parents. Parents who want to have children | 0:03:48 | 0:03:54 | |
and excellent education. I'm promoting that. Those in the | 0:03:54 | 0:03:58 | |
Catholic sector are facing a majority of job losses and closures. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:05 | |
None of this is a factor in the selective sector. This isn't about | 0:04:05 | 0:04:12 | |
me looking outside to look. I'm not looking at the Alliance or the | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
Catholic Church to support the position, I'm looking for them to | 0:04:15 | 0:04:19 | |
support their own position, because the time is over. That's the | 0:04:19 | 0:04:22 | |
problem, the hierarchy are saying we must do away and the schools are | 0:04:22 | 0:04:26 | |
saying, no, we don't want to. The council has fallen somewhere | 0:04:26 | 0:04:31 | |
between the two? That's a question you need to put to the Catholic | 0:04:31 | 0:04:35 | |
hierarchy. What I'm saying is I'm worried about the schools and I'm | 0:04:35 | 0:04:40 | |
using St Dominic's as an example. Why do I need two schools separated | 0:04:40 | 0:04:45 | |
by a wall when on one side only 15% of the population are on free | 0:04:45 | 0:04:50 | |
school meals and can gain access and on the other side, 60% are on | 0:04:50 | 0:04:55 | |
free school meals and can gain access. I want to ensure that all | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
young people have excellent education. Isn't it market forces | 0:04:58 | 0:05:04 | |
at work here? Exactly. The schools that are using selection are | 0:05:04 | 0:05:08 | |
attracting more people? Whether they are A students, B or C or D, | 0:05:08 | 0:05:13 | |
they are filling their desks and there's no way they'll close. It's | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
market forces. This is not about education. This is about marketing. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:21 | |
Marketing of a school of a product, suggesting that because they offer | 0:05:21 | 0:05:26 | |
a test that they provide some form -- It seems to be working very well. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:31 | |
Because they present this case of different systems than the school | 0:05:31 | 0:05:36 | |
down the road who does not offer tests. All schools teach the | 0:05:36 | 0:05:40 | |
curriculum and as we move to the new framework, which will become | 0:05:40 | 0:05:44 | |
law and 2013 onwards, all schools have to offer the same range of | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
subjects, so academic selection in the past was irrelevant and in the | 0:05:47 | 0:05:52 | |
future it becomes less so than it ever was. Schools using selection, | 0:05:52 | 0:05:56 | |
the majority of cases, this is a marketing exercise. Where do you | 0:05:56 | 0:06:00 | |
take it from here? We haven't moved anywhere on selection for years now | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
and this isn't going to help you move in your direction. It's not a | 0:06:03 | 0:06:11 | |
case of helping me move in my direction. Society has played a | 0:06:11 | 0:06:15 | |
leading role in many changes and it's time for us to show leadership | 0:06:15 | 0:06:20 | |
on this. It's time for civic society, the churches, unions, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:26 | |
educationalists all to come out and say it's now the time. They are | 0:06:26 | 0:06:31 | |
doing that? The church is saying it and still nothing changesment | 0:06:31 | 0:06:40 | |
Saying it is not enough -- -- still no change. Saying is not enough. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
The bodies with responsibility -- What does that mean in terms? | 0:06:44 | 0:06:48 | |
explain. The bodies with responsibility in education, such | 0:06:48 | 0:06:54 | |
as the bishops need to move and put their policy into action. I would | 0:06:54 | 0:06:58 | |
like to see the unions being louder and coming out and help lead the | 0:06:58 | 0:07:05 | |
way in regards to this. hierarchy cannot force Catholic | 0:07:05 | 0:07:10 | |
schools to abandon selection? Either we have a Catholic sector or | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
a multitude. That is a question the Church has to answer, because at | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
the moment reading my local papers and the newspapers it would appear | 0:07:17 | 0:07:23 | |
we have a multitude of sectors. The union movement -- The opinion is -- | 0:07:23 | 0:07:29 | |
Let me finish. The unions can offer leadership. The sector out there | 0:07:29 | 0:07:33 | |
not only in the Catholic sector but in the control sector, who are | 0:07:33 | 0:07:38 | |
ignored, it's time they stepped up and made their voices heard. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
Academic selection is not necessary for excellence. I'm in favour of | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
excellence and let's work towards that. I still don't see that you | 0:07:45 | 0:07:53 | |
have told me anything concrete that these people can do. There must be | 0:07:53 | 0:07:59 | |
a political solution? I think civic society giving leadership will lead | 0:07:59 | 0:08:07 | |
to a solution. Civic society has a role in society and it would be | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
arrogant of me to say I will tell those bodies what to do. The | 0:08:11 | 0:08:17 | |
Alliance and the SDLP and the Church and unions, I'm not | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
appealing for me to support Sinn Fein policies, but go back and read | 0:08:20 | 0:08:25 | |
your own policies and come out and support us. The council said in | 0:08:25 | 0:08:31 | |
2009 it wanted it phased out by 2012, ready for the entitlement | 0:08:31 | 0:08:37 | |
curriculum in 2013, but in the recent report there is no mention | 0:08:37 | 0:08:42 | |
of a deadline. Hence, a failure in leadership. Parents are stepping | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
back to look to see how this is going. As I said earlier, parents | 0:08:46 | 0:08:49 | |
want the best for their individual children and I would not deny | 0:08:49 | 0:08:54 | |
anyone that. I want to see a system that is excellent, but those | 0:08:54 | 0:08:57 | |
involved in education, the Catholic Church, has to give leadership and | 0:08:57 | 0:09:05 | |
others too. Those from socially deprived communities are not | 0:09:05 | 0:09:09 | |
accessing grammar schools. Why? That question has never been | 0:09:09 | 0:09:13 | |
sufficiently answered by those who are promoting academic selection. | 0:09:13 | 0:09:18 | |
Those who are opposed point to the testing system as a barrier to | 0:09:18 | 0:09:23 | |
further, higher education, so let's remove it. Let's have a more equal | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
society and let people move through education. A wall running through a | 0:09:27 | 0:09:32 | |
school, it's not acceptable. A wall running through any society is not | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
acceptable. You have appealed to civic society. Is that an admission | 0:09:35 | 0:09:40 | |
that you can do nothing? On my own I don't believe so. Or as a member | 0:09:40 | 0:09:46 | |
of the executive? I believe that politics is often lead by society | 0:09:46 | 0:09:50 | |
and society has to take a lead. Politicians have set positions. We | 0:09:50 | 0:09:54 | |
all know what my position is and the DUP. The other parties are | 0:09:54 | 0:10:00 | |
somewhat reluctant to come out and stand by their positions, but it is | 0:10:00 | 0:10:05 | |
opposed, and siem saying let's show leadership and come out and -- I'm | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
saying, let's show leadership and come out and we need to say enough | 0:10:08 | 0:10:14 | |
is enough. On another issue, minister, these carving up of the | 0:10:14 | 0:10:19 | |
department of employment and learning, are we any nearer to | 0:10:19 | 0:10:27 | |
learning about that? The department -- it will no longer exist in a | 0:10:27 | 0:10:30 | |
number of months. There are continuing discussions as to how we | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
separate the functions into the appropriate departments for the | 0:10:33 | 0:10:37 | |
benefit of society. Do you think that will be well resolved? | 0:10:38 | 0:10:42 | |
believe it can be. You'll end up with the universities? I will end | 0:10:42 | 0:10:47 | |
up with what I end up with. I believe further, higher education | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
and the universities have a place within the Department of Education. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
However, if that does not work out to be that case, then I don't think | 0:10:53 | 0:11:00 | |
that is an insurmountable problem. There are a number of theories. | 0:11:00 | 0:11:05 | |
Discussions or on-going, but I believe at the end we'll come to an | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
agreement which is for the benefit of the improvement. Thank you very | 0:11:08 | 0:11:16 | |
much. It's official! You're looking at one of the world's ugliest men! | 0:11:16 | 0:11:18 | |
According to an American dating website for beautiful people, Irish | 0:11:18 | 0:11:23 | |
men are the ugliest in the world. But the good news for this divided | 0:11:23 | 0:11:26 | |
community is that our breathtaking lack of good looks crosses all | 0:11:26 | 0:11:29 | |
religious and cultural barriers. Protestant and Catholic, Unionist | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
and Nationalist, North and South, the men of Ireland stand united in | 0:11:32 | 0:11:38 | |
their sheer ugliness. Apparently our problem is what our wives and | 0:11:38 | 0:11:41 | |
girlfriends have been telling us for years - we just don't make the | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
effort. While the poll-topping boys from Brazil submit a picture to the | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
agency taken after a morning spent in the local beauty salon, tanned, | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
toned, exfoliated and generally buffed up, Irish men send in a | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
picture taken in the pub on their mate's phone, a little the worse | 0:11:54 | 0:11:58 | |
for wear, proudly holding up a pint of stout and grinning with a mouth | 0:11:58 | 0:12:06 | |
full of cheeseburger! Every woman's dream. Looking even uglier than | 0:12:06 | 0:12:10 | |
Ulster's men, however, is Ulster's future. It's a case of another day, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:12 | |
another closure here with shops shutting down, companies collapsing | 0:12:12 | 0:12:18 | |
and the public sector haemorrhaging jobs. Among this week's casualties | 0:12:18 | 0:12:21 | |
were employees of a locally based call centre, which announced it | 0:12:21 | 0:12:25 | |
would be paying off 250 of its staff. Right now unemployment | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
appears to be our main growth industry. While unemployment is | 0:12:29 | 0:12:33 | |
growing, property prices continue to fall. And it's not just the | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
private housing market. The Castle Court Centre in Belfast was sold | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
this week for what is thought to be about half it's market value before | 0:12:41 | 0:12:44 | |
the crash. As if the future isn't bleak enough, the proposed | 0:12:44 | 0:12:47 | |
alterations to the benefits system are expected to impact large | 0:12:47 | 0:12:51 | |
numbers of families here. According to the Northern Ireland | 0:12:51 | 0:12:53 | |
Conservative website, we are addicted to benefits in this | 0:12:53 | 0:12:58 | |
province and that has to change. So what with one thing and another, | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
conditions appear to be building for a perfect storm. However, | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
Stormont, often criticised for its inertia in the past, has responded | 0:13:04 | 0:13:07 | |
to the situation by embarking upon what amounts to a massive public | 0:13:07 | 0:13:14 | |
works initiative. Admittedly, most of the money was already allocated | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
and much of the preliminary planning already in place, but | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
nevertheless the announcement on Tuesday of a �600 million road- | 0:13:19 | 0:13:26 | |
building and construction scheme is welcome news. The plans include the | 0:13:26 | 0:13:29 | |
upgrading of sections of the A5 and the A8 and the long-awaited | 0:13:29 | 0:13:32 | |
improvement to one of the most congested roads in the province, | 0:13:32 | 0:13:38 | |
the notorious A2 from Belfast to Carrickfergus. Included in the plan | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
is about �90 million to be spent on hospitals in Omagh, Londonderry and | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
Dundonald. In total, the scheme is expected to provide up to 3,000 | 0:13:45 | 0:13:53 | |
jobs in the construction industry. They couldn't come at a better time. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
Good night. The thoughts of Lindsay Allen. Cohesion, sharing and | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
integration - that's the formal title of the strategy for creating | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
a brave new conflict-free society in Northern ireland. But the | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
initials CSI could stand for confusion, suspicion and indecision, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
given how long we're having to wait for any concrete results from the | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
years of thinking and consulting that have gone into it. We were | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
promised a robust high-level action plan by last December, but it seems | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
as far away as ever. In a moment I'll be asking my guests where it | 0:14:19 | 0:14:22 | |
all went wrong, but first Julia Paul has been assessing the state | 0:14:22 | 0:14:32 | |
0:14:32 | 0:14:36 | ||
It was in 2003 when the question was asked about how community | 0:14:36 | 0:14:41 | |
relations in Northern Ireland could be -- improved. There was support | 0:14:41 | 0:14:49 | |
for living in a shed society. Subsequently, in 2005, the shared | 0:14:49 | 0:14:54 | |
future document was published by the then Northern Ireland minister, | 0:14:54 | 0:15:02 | |
John. He despised -- devised an action plan for education, housing | 0:15:02 | 0:15:12 | |
0:15:12 | 0:15:14 | ||
and law and order. 2007 in 2007, a shared future was shelved. The | 0:15:14 | 0:15:23 | |
strategy was known as the CSI strategy. It was due to be | 0:15:23 | 0:15:27 | |
delivered instalment in 2008. It has promised for harrowing that | 0:15:27 | 0:15:34 | |
year. By November, there was still no sign of it. I would like to | 0:15:34 | 0:15:39 | |
dispel the notion that there was a lack of urgency. We recognise the | 0:15:39 | 0:15:43 | |
importance of bringing the cohesion plan forward. Just a little bit | 0:15:43 | 0:15:52 | |
more time is required. We were still waiting by the summer of 2009. | 0:15:52 | 0:16:01 | |
Sir Hugh Orde's parting shot was saying that the delay in publishing | 0:16:01 | 0:16:07 | |
the strategy was leaving a vacuum to perpetuate the divisions of the | 0:16:07 | 0:16:17 | |
0:16:17 | 0:16:21 | ||
past. The First Minister declared... It remains one of the top policy | 0:16:21 | 0:16:28 | |
priorities. Then, Sinn Fein published its own document, to the | 0:16:28 | 0:16:37 | |
fury of the DUP who shelved it. Good relations are built on the | 0:16:37 | 0:16:43 | |
foundation of a quality, and it cannot be built on any inequality. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:49 | |
It is confusing for many people as to why the DUP would not sign up to | 0:16:49 | 0:16:55 | |
it the policy of agreement that is going to tackle high crime. It is | 0:16:55 | 0:16:59 | |
going to tackle sectarianism. whole concept of a shed and better | 0:16:59 | 0:17:06 | |
future is based on three key principles. They were identified as | 0:17:06 | 0:17:13 | |
equity, diversity and interdependence. It is about | 0:17:13 | 0:17:18 | |
recognises -- recognising diversity in our society. We also have to | 0:17:18 | 0:17:22 | |
have some sense of social cohesion and sharing into dependence -- into | 0:17:22 | 0:17:28 | |
dependence. What Sinn Fein has done is to give the great priority into | 0:17:28 | 0:17:38 | |
one of the strands, and to downgrade the the other two. | 0:17:38 | 0:17:43 | |
think groups in our sexual -- sector would like to see it, and | 0:17:43 | 0:17:48 | |
baking clearly bring their experience to bear. They can co- | 0:17:48 | 0:17:50 | |
operate and collaborate with government to achieve the outcome | 0:17:50 | 0:17:55 | |
that everyone is looking for. I think these things are linked. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
Progress on the strategy is the key demand of the Alliance Party. In | 0:17:59 | 0:18:05 | |
2010, Alliance leader David Ford declared the justice ministry. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:13 | |
Finally, in July 2010, a draft was published of the suicide document. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:19 | |
A consultation was launched on that. In May of last year, all of the | 0:18:19 | 0:18:23 | |
parties were invited to nominate MLAs took form a working group to | 0:18:23 | 0:18:28 | |
look at the strategy. They have been meeting on an almost weekly | 0:18:28 | 0:18:34 | |
basis. To date, no formal policy has yet been agreed. We have been | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
at this for seven or eight years, and that really is too long, so we | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
have to show progress and we have to show the outside world but we've | 0:18:43 | 0:18:50 | |
can resolve it. We in Northern Ireland are really interested in a | 0:18:50 | 0:18:56 | |
much better future. It is now 20th February 12, and we are still | 0:18:56 | 0:19:06 | |
0:19:06 | 0:19:06 | ||
waiting. We did it in fights people to -- invite people to join this | 0:19:06 | 0:19:12 | |
debate, but we weren't able to get everyone. Six or seven years we | 0:19:12 | 0:19:18 | |
have been waiting for this. Everyone is responsible for this | 0:19:18 | 0:19:24 | |
delay? It is a failure of politics in this region. Reconciliation | 0:19:24 | 0:19:29 | |
would be the foundation stone that we would build in the north, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:35 | |
because reconciliation means prosperity. Reconciliation means | 0:19:35 | 0:19:39 | |
peace and a new society. It what part of failure to you a bit too? | 0:19:39 | 0:19:47 | |
think the collective failure has been to understand the vast | 0:19:47 | 0:19:54 | |
majority outside the Stormont bubble, who want reconciliation. We | 0:19:54 | 0:19:59 | |
should share the blame for the fact that parties, and particularly the | 0:19:59 | 0:20:04 | |
two large parties, do not seem to share that reconciliation needs to | 0:20:04 | 0:20:11 | |
be at the heart of government. have seen Peter Robinson go to GA | 0:20:11 | 0:20:15 | |
matches. Martin McGuinness is going to Windsor Park. They are being | 0:20:15 | 0:20:22 | |
defined by actions and not words. You are talking about political | 0:20:22 | 0:20:27 | |
failure of leadership. That tells you something that Peter Robinson | 0:20:27 | 0:20:31 | |
is trying to test a measure of reconciliation by what he is going | 0:20:31 | 0:20:36 | |
to do, when the vast majority of society have moved on from where he | 0:20:36 | 0:20:45 | |
is decades ago. How can you criticise the ship on one hand... | 0:20:45 | 0:20:50 | |
am not sure how much leadership we have seen from those parties. The | 0:20:50 | 0:21:00 | |
alliance party's key policies have been integrated with education and | 0:21:00 | 0:21:06 | |
the display of flags and emblems, and we have seen delivery of -- | 0:21:06 | 0:21:12 | |
delivery from the Minister of Justice, and our Minister of | 0:21:12 | 0:21:16 | |
Employment has looked at the teacher training system, so we are | 0:21:16 | 0:21:21 | |
leading change on this issue, so we have set out our League -- clear | 0:21:21 | 0:21:27 | |
priorities. You have all parties going along to these meetings, and | 0:21:27 | 0:21:32 | |
it does not seem to budge an inch. What is going wrong? I think we | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
need to seek the other parties stepping up to the plate on this | 0:21:35 | 0:21:44 | |
issue. We have seen just a product of -- gesture politics. What are | 0:21:44 | 0:21:54 | |
0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | ||
the whole DUP? We have set out our policies. You cannot be too | 0:21:56 | 0:22:04 | |
discreet. We will not settle for anything less than clear delivery | 0:22:04 | 0:22:14 | |
0:22:14 | 0:22:14 | ||
on the issues. Flags, for example, that is a stumbling block. What is | 0:22:14 | 0:22:24 | |
the problem? Every year, we seek flags displayed in a way that our | 0:22:24 | 0:22:28 | |
seen to be causing intimidation. We need to agree a framework on West. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:34 | |
I know what the pros -- problem is. I don't know why they can't resolve | 0:22:34 | 0:22:40 | |
this. Why is it that such a stumbling block? Then these to be a | 0:22:40 | 0:22:45 | |
regulatory framework. Can you tell ask why they are not agreeing? | 0:22:45 | 0:22:49 | |
work of the committee is incompetence, but I can say this | 0:22:49 | 0:22:57 | |
much. I think flags are eight touchstone issue for many people in | 0:22:57 | 0:23:03 | |
our society. I think many people dislike the fact that flags are | 0:23:03 | 0:23:08 | |
used to mark out territory, and they are used by people with a | 0:23:08 | 0:23:13 | |
sinister outlook. The interesting thing, and the Test of whether we | 0:23:13 | 0:23:21 | |
are able to work, is whether it is able to face up to the need, | 0:23:21 | 0:23:28 | |
whether it is courageous on things like housing. 90 % of all social | 0:23:28 | 0:23:31 | |
housing has been segregated. You would think that the government | 0:23:31 | 0:23:37 | |
would want to lead the way, but it needs to be able to face up to | 0:23:37 | 0:23:44 | |
society's needs. They need to deal with things like victims. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:51 | |
Government at the highest level... Yes, they are going to turn up to | 0:23:51 | 0:24:01 | |
0:24:01 | 0:24:03 | ||
see the Queen, but... They'd don't think that suicide should dwell on | 0:24:03 | 0:24:13 | |
0:24:13 | 0:24:17 | ||
Many consultation responses put forward constructive ideas. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:25 | |
document said that the CSI should not spend as much time on the past. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:31 | |
Of course, we have to put together policies on a shared future, but we | 0:24:31 | 0:24:37 | |
need a comprehensive mechanism. do we have to have this aura of | 0:24:37 | 0:24:41 | |
confidentiality and secrecy about this committee? Why can't we know | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
what is going on and cook is causing the stumbling blocks? | 0:24:45 | 0:24:51 | |
is no 60 on where the Alliance Party stand on this issue. It is a | 0:24:51 | 0:24:59 | |
massive priority. The cost of division has been set at �1 billion. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:06 | |
The discussions have been bound by confidentiality. The specifics of | 0:25:06 | 0:25:12 | |
the working group are contained in the working group. We need to | 0:25:12 | 0:25:18 | |
discuss this issue in public. We want to see it discussed. That is a | 0:25:18 | 0:25:22 | |
question that you need to have with the two parties you don't want to | 0:25:22 | 0:25:27 | |
have a public debate. We can address this incompetence, but we | 0:25:27 | 0:25:32 | |
need to talk that it in public. He would have thought where we are | 0:25:32 | 0:25:35 | |
with our peace process is that this is a debate that we should be happy | 0:25:35 | 0:25:44 | |
Enrique -- happening. We want to agree every what -- involve | 0:25:44 | 0:25:48 | |
everyone in our society, rather than block it away in a corner room | 0:25:48 | 0:25:56 | |
instalment. It is not a question we can answer, but I hope where be get | 0:25:56 | 0:26:01 | |
to the point where we get agreement, I do hope that we are able to put | 0:26:02 | 0:26:08 | |
that out for further debate. big parties agree -- accuse the | 0:26:08 | 0:26:18 | |
0:26:18 | 0:26:26 | ||
SDLP of point scoring, is that delaying things again? I can't see | 0:26:26 | 0:26:33 | |
how holding Ministers to account is point-scoring. Stormont is | 0:26:33 | 0:26:40 | |
beginning to behave like is unaccountable. It is the job of the | 0:26:40 | 0:26:45 | |
ministers to do it. It looks like they are being disloyal to society. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:52 | |
What we need is an open culture, where people can debate it openly, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:56 | |
and we should be debating reconciliation. On reconciliation, | 0:26:56 | 0:27:01 | |
we build the new society, we build a better future. Is this so | 0:27:01 | 0:27:11 | |
0:27:11 | 0:27:18 | ||
important anyway? It talks about so many strategies. With all that | 0:27:18 | 0:27:28 | |
0:27:28 | 0:27:28 | ||
going on, who needs CSI?! We need a robust document to deal with key | 0:27:28 | 0:27:33 | |
issues, peace walls, flags. These are important issues to society. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:39 | |
They affect our economy and social interaction. This is a priority | 0:27:39 | 0:27:46 | |
issue. The Community Relations Council did all that. It was set up | 0:27:46 | 0:27:50 | |
and it wasn't given the powers it should have been given. They have | 0:27:50 | 0:27:55 | |
spent the last three years trying to demolish it. What we do need is | 0:27:55 | 0:28:00 | |
a very robust independent body, they can call it as it is when it | 0:28:00 | 0:28:06 | |
comes to government's response to sectarianism. Wendy you think there | 0:28:06 | 0:28:13 | |
will be a resolution? We will try and get it as soon as possible. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:20 | |
Give me a date. A I hope is soon, but the news to be right. We will | 0:28:20 | 0:28:30 | |
0:28:30 | 0:28:41 | ||
be back next week. -- I hope it is I need a really good discussion | 0:28:41 | 0:28:51 | |
0:28:51 | 0:28:52 | ||
about politics. The big question is do taxi fares need to be increased? | 0:28:52 | 0:29:02 | |
0:29:02 | 0:29:05 |