Decentralisation will be Agreement's acid test: SF

The relocation of government departments in Northern Ireland to towns and cities outside Belfast will be an “acid test” of the Good Friday Agreement, it was claimed today.

Sinn Féin Regional Development spokesperson Pat O’Rawe argued the movement of civil service jobs to locations outside of Belfast and especially west of the Bann would be key to any efforts to address deprivation.

The Newry and Armagh MLA argued: “While there are areas of significant and acute multi-deprivation east of the Bann, especially in North and West Belfast, in general, areas west of the Bann suffer from considerable levels of multi-deprivation.

“The achievement of equality is at the heart of Sinn Féin’s agenda for government. Equality of opportunity and of outcome are central priorities in terms of the peace process, investment in public services, tackling the crisis in rural communities, ending child poverty and in bringing an end to years of structural inequality in many urban and rural communities west of the Bann.

“As yet, practical measures to redress these inequalities and to fulfil the equality provisions as enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, have been minimal.

“Despite the East of the Bann/West of the Bann socio-economic divide, 72% of the 24,600 staff employed in civil service jobs still have to travel to Belfast to work.”

In Dublin, Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy announced plans before Christmas to move civil service jobs and government offices out of the capital.

However some civil servants have expressed unease with the plan.

A review of public administration is taking place north of the border until February 27 and is focussing on the future of local councils, quangos and other public bodies.

The Newry and Armagh MLA said her party had “continually argued” for the decentralisation of Northern Ireland government departments and public sector jobs.

This was “an essential step in delivering on the promise of equality”.

She added: “There are also thousands of civil servants living West of the Bann who are forced to make the long and expensive journey to Belfast on a daily basis.

“Most are junior civil servants at the lower end of the pay scale who are not awarded travel allowances or living expenses.

“Despite these glaring inequalities and the clear need to initiate and urgent programme of dispersal of civil service jobs, there are powerful vested interests in maintaining this status quo.

“With many senior civil servants living and working in areas like the ‘Gold Coast’ of North Down the resistance to decentralisation is clear.

“They argue about the costs associated with decentralisation would divert scarce resources away from health and education. This flawed argument negates the fact that the social costs of maintaining areas of high deprivation incur disproportionately higher financial costs than decentralisation ever would.”

Ms O’Rawe said the fact that the Irish Government is now beginning to decentralise illustrated the resistance to change in Northern Ireland.

“The fight to brake the stranglehold that senior civil servants in the North have will be a lot more difficult, because they have, to all intents and purposes have had continuous and unchallenged control over the wheels of power for generations,” she said.

“Things were beginning to change when the Executive and Assembly were up and running.”

The Sinn Féin MLA said if the review failed to opt for decentralisation of government jobs, it would mean the equality provisions in the Good Friday Agreement were “little more than writing on paper”.