20 September 2001 Edition
Former prisoners must be treated equally
A major ground breaking report into the economic and employment problems still faced by republican ex-prisoners will be launched by Coiste na nIarchimí on Friday 21 September.
The report, Comhionannas Saoránachta do Shochaí Úr?/Equal Citizenship for a New Society, is an analysis of training and employment opportunities for republican ex-prisoners in the Belfast area.
The report was compiled by Dr Féilim O'hAdhmaill, a former prisoner himself and contains information on employment levels, the work in which ex-prisoners are involved and the deficiencies of mainstream training provision in providing appropriate employment opportunities for republican ex-prisoners.
According to Mike Ritchie of Coiste na nIarchimí, ``the report provides detailed policy recommendations for relevant government departments and will inform Coiste na nIarchimí's lobbying strategy for the next number of years''.
The report points out that the real problem lies with the inequality of society, which in turn is based on past injustices.
``The British government cannot ignore its responsibilities in this regard. In this sense it may be useful to introduce the term `historical reparation' to government thinking.The equality agenda requires the righting of past wrongs and this in turn requires the the investment of disproportionate amounts of public funding in areas of high unemployment in order to create real, meaningful jobs.''
The report also concludes that ``ex-prisoners, by virtue of the fact that they have been in prison and have lived through a conflict situation for many years, require a training process which is quite specific to their needs. It is quite clear from this research that current training policy is failing the bulk of ex-prisoners.''
The report also proposes that discrimination against and exclusion of republican ex-prisoners needs to be tackled at both policy and legislative levels.
``All legislation that discriminates against ex-prisoners or fails to protect them in the way that other citizens are protected needs to be reformed,'' it says. ``The rights of political ex-prisoners to be treated equally to every other citizen should be enshrined in the new Bill of Rights.
``Probably the easiest way to ensure that political ex-prisoners have access to full and equal citizenship, however, is with the removal of `criminal' records for those jailed as a result of the conflict.''
The report will be launched on Friday 21 September at 11am in Amharclann na Carraige, BIFHE College, Whiterock Road, Belfast.
The report, Comhionannas Saoránachta do Shochaí Úr?/Equal Citizenship for a New Society, is an analysis of training and employment opportunities for republican ex-prisoners in the Belfast area.
The report was compiled by Dr Féilim O'hAdhmaill, a former prisoner himself and contains information on employment levels, the work in which ex-prisoners are involved and the deficiencies of mainstream training provision in providing appropriate employment opportunities for republican ex-prisoners.
According to Mike Ritchie of Coiste na nIarchimí, ``the report provides detailed policy recommendations for relevant government departments and will inform Coiste na nIarchimí's lobbying strategy for the next number of years''.
The report points out that the real problem lies with the inequality of society, which in turn is based on past injustices.
``The British government cannot ignore its responsibilities in this regard. In this sense it may be useful to introduce the term `historical reparation' to government thinking.The equality agenda requires the righting of past wrongs and this in turn requires the the investment of disproportionate amounts of public funding in areas of high unemployment in order to create real, meaningful jobs.''
The report also concludes that ``ex-prisoners, by virtue of the fact that they have been in prison and have lived through a conflict situation for many years, require a training process which is quite specific to their needs. It is quite clear from this research that current training policy is failing the bulk of ex-prisoners.''
The report also proposes that discrimination against and exclusion of republican ex-prisoners needs to be tackled at both policy and legislative levels.
``All legislation that discriminates against ex-prisoners or fails to protect them in the way that other citizens are protected needs to be reformed,'' it says. ``The rights of political ex-prisoners to be treated equally to every other citizen should be enshrined in the new Bill of Rights.
``Probably the easiest way to ensure that political ex-prisoners have access to full and equal citizenship, however, is with the removal of `criminal' records for those jailed as a result of the conflict.''
The report will be launched on Friday 21 September at 11am in Amharclann na Carraige, BIFHE College, Whiterock Road, Belfast.