Deprived areas in the North 'fail to benefit from peace'

Up to 80% of children in Belfast’s most deprived areas are living in poverty, it was claimed tonight.

University of Ulster academic Eilish Rooney said children were missing out on the peace payoff enjoyed in the North.

She told the Féile an Phobail (West Belfast Festival) those living in parts of the Falls and Shankill were experiencing severe hardship and criticised official equality bodies for not doing enough.

She said: “In the area we are in 80% of the children live in poverty in eight of the constituency’s 17 electoral areas.”

The lecturer at the University’s School of Sociology was giving the Frank Cahill Memorial lecture at Conway Mill off the Falls Road.

She said the Equality Commission had not carried out enough research into marginalised groups like women.

“It was shocking to find out that there has been no study into women’s poverty in the North,” she added.

“No study has examined the over-time impact on women and children of these differentials.”

She said the Human Rights Commission at one stage appeared to support those who criticised the Assembly’s voting arrangements.

“The commissions for human rights and equality are there to provide guidance on all of this which is why it is all the more worrying when these bodies appear to fail in their vital functions.”