Brendan Smith Urges Stronger Local Government After Disturbances
Brendan Smith spoke to a committee on 14 Apr 2021 about recent disturbances, linking them to education underachievement, poverty, deprivation and lack of political representation. He welcomed presentations from Neil, Nolene and Patrick and called for strengthened local government and full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Recent disturbances and root causes
He noted recent disorder the committee had hoped was behind them and referenced analysis by Deirdre Heenan and Joe Braley. He identified a complex mix of underlying causes - education underachievement, poverty, deprivation and lack of political representation - as contributing factors to the violence.
Local government and representation
He argued that local government has been eroded, citing rationalisation examples such as Fermanagh and Ulmer District Council and the loss of town councils and reduced rural council numbers. He said strong elected local representatives are essential, and that non-elected PPN networks cannot substitute for elected personnel delivering services and advocating for communities.
Good Friday Agreement mandate
He reiterated that every politician on this island has the mandate to implement the Good Friday Agreement, a mandate given through the May 1998 referendum. He warned the Agreement's potential is not being maximized and suggested that fuller implementation might have prevented recent violence.
Community engagement and disadvantaged areas
He recalled committee visits to Belfast, Derry and other parts of Northern Ireland as especially informative for hearing local concerns. He praised outreach efforts - including Mr. McCann's work in Belfast - and stressed the need to focus on less advantaged communities so progress for one community does not come at the expense of another.
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Thanks very much, Chairman. Like my colleague Niall, I welcome the presentations by Neil, Nolene and Patrick. Very interesting thoughts and proposals there. One thing you might let us know later on in the meeting is, does your group consist of people from both communities? And I think it's unfortunate that in making the presentation that Neil had to refer to the events of the last week, and that was something we had all hoped that we were gone from, and that that type of activity and disturbance within communities was consigned to history. Unfortunately not. And indeed, there have been some very good articles written up over the past number of days since those disturbances. And I think of articles by Deirdre Heenan and by Joe Braley, where they they they give comprehensive analysis of some of the underlying causes and factors contributing to the violence, be it education underachievement, poverty, deprivation, lack of political representation. I'm sure there's a mix of all those particular factors, and and and it's more complex than just naming off a few factors, and I fully understand that. But those are the issues that we want to address. And just for our delegation visiting us today, as a committee, we've we have visited Belfast, Derry and other parts of Northern Ireland. And as we would have discussed to this committee previously, I always found those visits to be the most productive from the point of view of informing us and engaging with people. And here that firsthand their concerns. And I think as Senator Neil Blaney said, it's very important, as Nolan said, that there's a focus on community endeavour, and getting the best out of communities. But one thing is, and you know, he mentioned local government, and I think, unfortunately, local government has been destroyed. I know, and out in this state, and I know that Northern Ireland was a major rationalisation some years ago, where you have is Fermanagh and Ulmer District Council. Now, we lost town councils here, we've reduced numbers on the more rural county councils, and I think that was a big mistake. There's nothing to beat having good representation, strong local representatives, representing their communities, advocating on behalf of them, and being very tuned into what's happening or not happening within communities. the PPN networks. Those non-elected groups will never substitute for elected personnel in delivering services, and meeting the needs and concerns of local communities. So I think from one point that we that we might engage in and further is probably strengthen local government. And you know, where you have substantial numbers on local councils, you have an opportunity to have the more minority groups gaining seats through the proportionate representative of the representation system. And it's very important in that respect, six or seven seat or local district councils, where you have an opportunity to have people of the different political groupings represented. So I think it's very important that we don't take the focus away from elected people in meeting the many challenges that face our island as we go forward. There can be that partnership, there has to be, but the focus has to remain on elected people delivering on the mandate that they have got. And the mandate that every politician has got. And the mandate that every politician has in this island is the mandate to implement the Good Friday Agreement. That mandate was given to us through the referendum May 1998. And unfortunately, the potential of the Good Friday Agreement and its workings are not being maximized. I would suggest that we wouldn't be, we wouldn't have had the violence and the disturbance that we had if we had the potential of the Good Friday Agreement maximized. Welcome your comments today. Welcome your comments today. They're positive on what we can do in shaping the shared island and I would hope a united Ireland in the future that I aspire to. But if we advocate and grow, if one community makes progress in advocating for their particular aspirations and progressing to represent their aspirations, it should never be at the expense of the other community that they lose because one community gains. So there's a lot of work to be done. So there's a lot of work to be done. So there's a lot of work to be done, and I know for Mr. McCann's work along with others in Belfast over the years that you reach out to different communities, that you reach out particularly to the more, the communities that are less advantaged. And that's very important in the present context, that work is focused on those particular areas as well. Thank you.
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