Sports Council work on Racism and Sectarianism
Members of the British–Irish Inter–Parliamentary Body have been told about efforts which the Sports Council for Northern Ireland have been making about the important role sport has to play in helping to find a solution to racism and sectarianism.
Sports Council Vice Chairman Gerry Carson, speaking at meeting of the Body in Dublin, explained that the Council has been at the forefront of working to improve community relations in and through sport for over 10 years. “Sport can play a major part in promoting the inclusion of all groups in society, because it plays a part in forming our community, our culture and our society,” Mr. Carson told MPs and TDs.
“In 1997, the Sports Council appointed its first Community Relations Development Officer to raise the profile of these issues and initiate actions to tackle longstanding challenges,” he said.
“The Council’s Equity Training Programme – launched in 1999 – is widely used throughout Northern Ireland by both sporting and non-sporting organisations. It broaches issues of diversity and difference and also informed and shaped the development of the UK Equality Standard (rolled out through the four Home Country Sports Councils).
For over a decade the Council has continued to develop and evolve its role in improving good relations within a variety of diversity settings – disability, minority ethnic groups and cross community groups.
The Council’s Equity Policy embeds achievable actions designed to resolve the underlying causes of division and inequality and of which sectarianism and racism are two stands within its core activities.
A crucial part of the way forward is through education, both in the strict sense and in enhanced practices within sport; sentiments with which we must all agree.”
The Vice Chairman made special mention of new citizens to Northern Ireland, who, he stressed, must also be afforded protection, and sport can play its part in so doing. “Sport can enable improved lifestyles, give better health and well-being, enrich education, aid community cohesion and understanding, and contribute to a more vibrant economy”, Gerry emphasised.
“Within these activities, sport must ensure that racism and sectarianism are relegated to a history which should never be repeated.”
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