Community action is the key to progress

IF local people feel that the new arrangements for local government in Northern Ireland are failing them, they should not despair for they could resort to a measure with which they are already familiar.

Throughout the North there has been a significant development of community associations being set up in response to local social and domestic needs identified by the people themselves. For a long time this politicising of local people was the prerogative of nationalist /republican-dominated communities.

Thankfully, we are now witnessing unionist/loyalist-dominated communities - as well as those which have remained ‘mixed’ - catching up fast, to the point where they are beginning to give much needed leadership to their people on the social issues with which they are confronted.