Context
Belfast City Council is one of, if not the, leading advocate for and deliverer of good relations work in Northern Ireland. Its status as the largest local authority with leadership from all political parties, and the quality and impact of its work on good relations to date, is widely recognised and very well regarded.
Good relations focuses primarily under Section 75(2) of the 1998 Northern Ireland Act on promoting positive relationships between people with different political opinions, racial background or religious beliefs.
At its core, good relations manages, counters and reduces racism and sectarianism.
A definition of both includes:
Racism is defined in many ways in different sources, but the fundamentals come back to:
- Feelings of inherent superiority based on background.
- Prejudice and disrespect.
- The continued play out of issues at a local level through things like graffiti and vocalisation of prejudice.
- Systemic or institutional racism developed sometimes over a prolonged period.
- Subsequent issues around decision-making processes, lack of involvement in decision-making and lack of recognition of contributions made.
As a result, the strategy includes references to:
- Systems and procedures by agencies and others that may include unconscious bias.
- Capacity building to raise abilities to tackle or address every day or systemic racism and sectarianism.
- Identification of positive role models.
- Dialogues on the consequence of racism at an individual and structural level, and how to challenge it.
Sectarianism is defined in many ways in different sources, but the fundamentals come back to:
- Narrow-minded or parochial attitudes toward people of different faith beliefs.
- Being confined to the limits of a particular denomination or being biased toward people and beliefs of a particular denomination.
- Sectarianism in Ireland is often related to people from a Protestant or Catholic background but could equally relate to differences between people of other faith backgrounds.
- There are often links from the denomination to other cultural, historical and political differences.
As a result, the strategy includes references to:
- Inter faith collaboration; because while there can be a diluted relationship between religion, beliefs and political, historical and cultural differences, nevertheless sectarianism can still play a part even if those differences are increasingly less clear in a city such as Belfast.
- Parochialism or limited engagement and loyalty locally is important to sectarianism, and so the benefit of looking beyond the local and exploring good practice elsewhere can be important.
While there are many definitions of what constitutes racism, most agree that sectarianism is a subset of racism especially in systemic manifestations. In Belfast in recent years that includes a focus on Islamophobia, or prejudice against other faiths, as well as Belfast’s traditional religious divides.
Our good relations strategy exists within a context of a wide-ranging policy context especially from The Executive Office, at Stormont, which supports financially the delivery of the actions.
The most pertinent over-arching policy document is the Together: Building a United Community (T:BUC) strategy which is aligned with the detail and recommendations within this strategy.
The Together Building a United Community (T:BUC) strategy was produced in 2013 and is currently being reviewed by The Executive Office. It has four over-arching strategic themes:
Our Children and Young People aims to continue to improve attitudes amongst our young people and to build a community where they can play a full and active role in building good relations.
Our Shared Community aims to create a community where division does not restrict the opportunities of individuals and where all areas are open and accessible to everyone. Specific actions include the creation of four urban villages and ten new shared neighbourhoods.
Our Safe Community aims to create a community where everyone feels safe in moving around and where life choices are not inhibited by fears about safety. Specific actions include working to build a culture where people feel comfortable to report when they have been the victim of intimidation or harassment and the creation of an interface barrier support package.
Our Cultural Expression aims to o create a community, which promotes mutual respect and understanding, is strengthened by its diversity and where cultural expression is celebrated and embraced.
These four strategic priorities are at the heart of our new good relations strategy and evidenced throughout.
The good relations indicators produced by The Executive Office are foundations for the indicators suggested for the Shared City Partnership in this strategy. The Shared City Partnership is a working group of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on the council and oversees and drives the Good Relations work of the Council. It’s make-up and function are detailed later along with proposals for a refined role for this unique body.
We will adopt a new framework for measuring its impact, which embraces a focus on making Belfast a more cohesive city beyond the good relations indicators and challenging all sectors to contribute to the work as well as measuring impact. As such, the approach is a Whole Community, Whole Council approach to its new, good relations strategy.
The Racial Equality Strategy 2015-2025 is also produced by The Executive Office. It has four specific outcomes:
Equality of service provision:
People from a minority ethnic background can access and benefit from all public services equally.
Elimination of prejudice, racism and hate crime:
Effective protection and redress is provided against all manifestations of racism and racist hate crime and a victim centred approach.
Increased participation, representation and belonging:
People from minority ethnic backgrounds participate in and are represented fully in all aspects of life – public, political, economic, social and cultural – and enjoy a shared sense of “belonging”.
Cultural diversity is celebrated:
The rights of people from minority ethnic backgrounds to maintain their culture and traditions in line with human rights norms and to pass them on to subsequent generations are recognised and supported.
Recent research from The Executive Office suggests that key barriers to integration include social inclusion, education issues, leadership in government, and lack of understanding. Many respondents to the consultation on the draft strategy agreed with its vision, and that increasing engagement, involving community groups, and improving diversity were important.
The Refugee Integration Strategy, published in May 2025 included a vision for ‘a cohesive and shared society where people seeking protection, are valued and feel safe, are integrated into communities and are supported to reach their full potential’.
The strategy has four high-level outcomes which are as follows:
Outcomes:
- People who seek asylum and refuge are valued and respected.
People who seek asylum and refuge are respected as members of our communities and their presence, knowledge and contribution to society is recognised and valued. - People who seek asylum and refuge are safe and feel secure.
People who seek asylum and refuge feel welcome and live here safely without fear of persecution or discrimination resulting from their immigration status outcome. - People who seek asylum and refuge exercise their rights and responsibilities.
People who seek asylum and refuge are integrated into diverse and inclusive communities and are aware of and able to exercise their rights and responsibilities. - People who seek asylum and refuge are supported to achieve their full potential.
People who seek asylum and refuge have access to services and support to achieve their full potential.
In Northern Ireland as a whole, in 2024-2025, there was a significant increase in race hate motivated incidents and crimes - 1,807 incidents (an increase of 454 on the previous year) and 1,188 crimes (an increase of 349 on the previous year). There were nearly double the number of race hate incidents (1,807) than sectarian hate motivated incidents (910) and more race hate motivated crimes than all other hate related crimes put together: 1,188 compared to 947. It is important to note that this data is based on reported incidents, it is clear there is a large number of unreported hate crime which means the above statistics in reality are much larger.
Our good relations strategy is consistent with the Belfast Agenda community plan including its five themes of people and communities, economy, place, planet and compassion, and takes on board all of the key issues and challenges.
