A BELFAST community group is hoping to bring a group of young Irish political activists to South Africa to learn how inter community fears and hatreds can be overcome.
Intercom, a cross community group from Catholic and Protestant areas of north Belfast, is inviting political parties from Northern Ireland and the Republic to nominate young members for the trip. It plans to bring 13 delegates and two leaders to South Africa in April or early May for a six week tour.
According to the organiser, Mr Liam Maskey, Intercom was founded in August last year to promote cross community development in north Belfast. It sought ways of cementing cross community co operation and came up with the tour idea for the potential leaders of the future.
"Irish people have always been very close to South Africa, so we started looking at ways of maybe sending people to South Africa," Mr Maskey said. "We wanted to find out how they got over their natural fears and hatred."
Mr Maskey has already made a preparatory visit financed by the International Fund for Ireland. The main visit is to be hosted by Interculture South Africa, an offshoot of an American international youth exchange programme, and financed by the International Fund for Ireland.
Intercom hopes that roughly one third of the delegates will be from unionist parties, a third from Northern nationalist parties and a third from parties in the Republic. The delegates, aged between 18 and 24, will travel to different parts of South Africa and meet political and community leaders.
"It's to show them that, regardless of murders and discrimination and injustice, people can work together and overcome the hatred and live together," Mr Maskey said.