There is an ‘urgent’ need to review Good Relations strategies in the north after disorder erupted in south Belfast in recent days, an Alliance MLA has said.
Two nights of rioting took place in the Broadway and Village areas, with petrol bombs and bottles thrown at police by crowds of young people.
Good Relations programmes have been introduced to promote cross-community relations and are delivered by local councils and other government bodies.
Paula Bradshaw, Alliance MLA for South Belfast, has said there needs to be an urgent review of how the programmes are delivered.
“Sometimes ‘Good Relations’ is seen as an easy issue, which is only prioritised when it comes to cutting the budget for it,” Ms Bradshaw said.
“However, the unrest in the Broadway area demonstrates that there is still a lot of work to do.
“It is unfortunate that we have seen so little evidence of progress on reviewing Good Relations programmes over the past decade or so.
“There is, sadly, little evidence of any urgency around this since restoration. The fact is, however, that we should long ago have done more to tackle predictable tensions. Good Relations and broader reconciliation remain key priorities in a society recovering from conflict such as ours.”
Since the height of the disorder on Tuesday night, the PSNI said it is continuing to carry out patrols in the area and maintain a ‘visible police presence’.
”We are working closely with community representatives and local residents to ensure there is no repeat of the unacceptable scenes we saw earlier in the week,” a PSNI spokesperson said.
”To date, one man has been arrested and charged with public order offences and the police investigation into the disturbances continues.”
