Madam, - I read with interest the article by Trina Vargo, "Time to tear down these walls of division" (Opinion & Analysis, September 20th). Despite the enormous political achievement of the Belfast Agreement and this year's re-establishment of a local power-sharing executive, the interface walls in Belfast are a constant reminder to those of us who live and work in the North how far we still have to travel in addressing the legacy of violence and conflict. As long as the walls stand, investors and tourists who might have been encouraged to think we have put conflict behind us will still have their doubts.
Trina Vargo's challenge is timely and should not be dismissed as a stunt. We have policies about when interface barriers are put up, but no strategy to take them down. In spite of political agreements, barriers are still being put up in Belfast and there has been insufficient thought about community- or police-based alternatives.
Much good work is already happening in interface communities and the Community Relations Council is proud to be supporting it. Increasingly, people who would previously not have supported cross-community engagement have led this development. New models of mixed housing are also being pioneered.
Let there be no doubt, however that removing the walls is a complex task. The barriers in people's mind are higher, thicker and longer than we might want to believe. Fear, distrust and even hatred have roots beyond the urban working class. Shouting at people to share will never work if they do not feel they are safe. The real task is to show people there are no longer grounds for fear, not merely to say so. Political leadership will be vital in this, as well as a sustained strategy to eliminate residual fears of discrimination, intimidation or exclusion. Growing sustainable relationships across political and community boundaries is not a luxury but the essential task for this generation of leaders in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Trina Vargo's challenge is one we should take seriously. If we rise to it, it will be an emblem of progress. If we cannot, it will be an illustration of the work left to do.
- Yours, etc,
DUNCAN MORROW, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, Murray Street, Belfast 1.