Derry Councilor says 'Communal feuding is dead-end for working-class communities and young people'

People Before Profit has joined calls for calm and for an end to the sectarian violence witnessed in Derry in previous days. 

Derry Councillor Shaun Harkin described communal feuding as a 'dead-end for working-class communities and young people'. 

The People Before Profit Councillor said: "The biggest division in our society is class. Class background is the biggest factor shaping the outlooks, health, and prospects for individuals and communities. 

"We urge our young people to reject sectarianism. Despite the fact that we are three decades into the 'peace process', Stormont as an institution continues to constantly pit working-class communities against each other. 

"There's no benefit to young people in any community to this. Child poverty levels in Derry continue to be shameful, and Stormont continues to block the implementation of an Anti-Poverty Strategy that would lift communities out of poverty. 

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"Its wrong for MLAs to scapegoat parents when it's clear Stormont drives sectarian division and systematically fails young people. 

"We commend youth and community workers who have been on the ground working to reduce tensions - and hope no one has been seriously injured or is seriously injured going forward."

Cllr Shaun Harkin continued: "Sectarianism continues to be a blight on our society, and it is always alarming when it escalates into violence. It is depressing to see young people in our communities pulled in behind sectarianism and engaging in violence. 

"Many people in our communities work in good faith week in and week out to bring people together and to build a positive future for everyone, especially young people. 

"Young people in all our communities deserve to feel hopeful and optimistic about their future and the future of our society. 

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"Sectarianism can continue to thrive in deprivation and among those despairing from lack of access to housing, dental care, decent paying jobs, and community infrastructure. 

"This week, the trade union organised Workers Rights and Social Justice Week has highlighted inspiring examples of Catholic and Protestant communities coming together to demand social change and equality. 

"We are committed to working with others to bring our communities together to demand investment in education, in community infrastructure, in health care, in housing and to reshape government priorities. 

"The alternative to hate and division is working-class unity."