Enough is Enough - political parties agree on poverty

For immediate use: Monday 19 September 2005

NICVA today warmly welcomed the all-party support for the Enough is Enough campaign that calls for an anti-poverty strategy that will make a real difference to the lives of people who suffer from it.

MLAs from the five biggest political parties set aside their differences to call for urgent action to fight social disadvantage and exclusion in Northern Ireland. They took part in an event this morning in the old Belfast Poor House, Clifton House, to call on government to produce a better anti-poverty strategy.

"Disappointing is one word I could use to describe the government's draft strategy," said Fred Cobain, Ulster Unionist MLA. "Appalling is another. People living in poverty do not get the services they need in areas like education, pre-school provision, warm homes and advice services. Ending poverty needs a 10-15 year programme. Government has to be focused to achieve this and it needs sustained mainstream funding, not two or three year projects."

Mark Durkan, SDLP leader, accused the government of dropping initiatives taken by the devolved Assembly to combat poverty which affected all of society. "We are not into poverty rivalry - 'our poverty is worse than your poverty' - that is no way to tackle the problem. That is why you in the voluntary and community sector are right to unite together to challenge the government to reduce the scourge of poverty in Northern Ireland."

"Poverty is here and now, in education and health as well as not enough money coming in," commented Eileen Bell, Alliance MLA. "We as local politicians need to work with you on the ground to make sure Lord Rooker listens and develops a strategy for children and old people and single parent families and other people living in poverty."

Sinn Fein MLA Kathy Stanton said there was a strong tendency to blame people for their poverty rather than to look at the causes, such as the unfair tax system. "Above all we need the political will; we have not been willing to tackle this problem. Government has shied away from any radical and meaningful policies and has not provided a budget to tackle poverty."

Nelson McCausland, Democratic Unionist Party MLA, added: "Poverty is not limited to Unionist or Nationalist communities; it affects all communities. People in the Falls and Woodvale share common difficulties and these problems need a comprehensive, not a piecemeal approach. It needs to be moved up the government's priority list. I congratulate NICVA on its campaign and support the establishment of an all-party group on poverty. There has been some misunderstanding about what was said in the context of recent violence. However there are problems of community infrastructure in many Unionist areas and that was a core issue last week."

NICVA welcomed the support of the parties for the anti-poverty campaign. "The problem of poverty dates back for many years. One strategy to combat it was to open the Belfast Poor House in 1774. We have been waiting 231 years for an effective plan that will really deal with the problem," said NICVA director of policy, Frances McCandless, who chaired the meeting.

"Government speaks about the growing economy and confidence in Northern Ireland. We now have the wealth to ensure that everyone has a proper income, that everyone can get a good education and that nobody needs to suffer from bad health just because they are poor.

"I am delighted that the political parties have joined forces today to call on government to produce an effective policy against poverty and inequality. It is already Labour Government policy to fight poverty and social exclusion and it is pledged to eliminate child poverty.

"Government agrees and the local parties agree, so I am calling for political drive and direction to put in place firm actions with challenging targets and the resources needed to do the job," Ms McCandless added.

NOTES

NICVA has been running a campaign entitled Enough is Enough, urging individuals and organisations to make their views known to the Minister responsible, Lord Rooker. It has also drafted an open letter calling for a strong anti-poverty strategy which it will deliver to the Minister this Thursday at Stormont at 11.00am.

In addition to the political representatives, there were short speeches from Margery Magee, North and West Belfast Health Action Zone and from three representatives of the voluntary and community sector:

Frances Dowds, NI Anti-Poverty Network
Alex Tennant, Save the Children
Duane Farrell, Help the Aged

Details of the Enough is Enough campaign can be found on the new portal www.communityni.org.

More information from Paul McGill, 028 9087 7777; 0772 1746 805 (m).