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REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ASHTON COMMUNITY TRUST AWARD FUNCTION

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ASHTON COMMUNITY TRUST AWARD FUNCTION ON TUESDAY,17 NOVEMBER,1998

I’m very happy to be back here in North Belfast, a part of the city which has sadly suffered so much from the violence of the past 30 years. The most recent victim, Brian Service, was murdered just a few weeks ago – in my own parish, a short distance from where I once lived happily until forced to leave by the sectarianism which has made life so miserable in an area already coping with many other difficulties and coping so courageously.

My thanks to Paul Roberts and the Ashton Community Trust for the invitation to be with you today and to launch the Trust’s community based awards scheme.

Credit is due to the Millennium Commission and ‘Making Belfast Work’ for their assistance to this visionary project.

I was interested to learn that, while areas covered by the project include training for parenting, literacy, conflict resolution, health promotion, inter-generational communication, the main criterion is that the training offered to recipients of the award scheme should be of advantage to the community as well as the individual.

I am particularly struck by the scheme’s community based character. The selection panel, I see, is made up of community representatives from each of the six participating areas in North Belfast - the Ardoyne - Cavehill – Cliftonville – Ligoniel – Newington, and New Lodge.

An important aspect of this unique project, is that child-care, travel and books are covered, allowing recipients to participate where in other circumstances they might not be in a position to do so.

There is little doubt that the scheme’s long-term perspective, taking an inclusive and holistic approach, will pay rich dividends to both the individual participant and the wider community.

Groups such as the Ashton Community Trust - working on the ground to develop their communities are specifically recognised in the Good Friday Agreement. Community led social and economic development has a major role to play in consolidating the Agreement and in healing the wounds of the conflict.

The “peace walls” just a short distance from this centre are reminders of what we hope to leave behind – once described as “sociological toddlergates” we look forward to outgrowing them soon. They emphasise the urgency of reconciliation between the different traditions as well as the need to address the social and economic problems which have contributed to the sense of exclusion felt by many people in North Belfast.

It isn’t easy to build up a sense of shared community where division is so evident and wounds are so real. Yet it has to be done if the sins of the past are not to be repeated through the generations to come. Each day offers a new beginning – a chance to build together in respect and in partnership. The people who build up peace are very special people and it is important, I feel, that people who contribute so much to community development should be recognised. This scheme does exactly that – encouraging the award recipients to contribute further to shaping the future of their communities.

I wish to thank you for your warm welcome to me today and I hope our paths will soon cross again.