Four Irish church leaders speak up for the poor
On Monday 12 December, the leaders of the four largest Irish Churches travelled together to London to express their ‘grave concern’ over the impact of proposed welfare reforms on the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland.
The Church leaders had a private meeting with Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord David Freud, who was accompanied by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr Owen Patterson MP.
Following the meeting with Lord Freud, at his offices in Caxton House in London, the four Church leaders travelled to the Palace of Westminster where they met other Members of Parliament and the House of Lords involved in debating the Welfare Reform Bill as it passes through its final stages in the Houses of Parliament.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Archbishop Alan Harper, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, said; ‘That all four leaders of the largest Churches in Ireland have set aside time before Christmas to travel together to London to make this approach to Lord Freud and his colleagues is a sign of just how concerned we are.
‘Successive studies have shown that Northern Ireland will suffer more than any other region of the UK from the reforms to social welfare being debated in Westminster today. As Christian leaders we feel we have a responsibility to speak up for the most vulnerable in our society and for those in our congregations, especially children and their families who will be pushed even further into poverty by some of these reforms.’
Rev. Ivan Patterson, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, said: ‘We want to support our local politicians in making Government in Westminster aware of the grave consequences of these reforms for the economy in Northern Ireland.
‘Northern Ireland is already lagging behind other parts of the UK in terms of economic growth. Because we have some of the highest levels of unemployment, poverty and disability in the UK these reforms will set us back even further by taking away money that people who really need it to survive spend every day in our fragile local economy.
‘We all support welfare reform if it reduces fraud and if it helps those who can to get back into work. But we also have to ask Lord Freud and the Secretary of State to tell us where these jobs for people in Northern Ireland are going to come from in a time of dramatic cutbacks? Is it wise to introduce these reforms to Northern Ireland given our unique circumstances as the region with greatest poverty and slowest economic growth in the UK?’ We also want to ask, what is the moral imperative guiding these reforms? When such efforts were made to save our financial institutions, what efforts are being made to protect the poorest among us?’
President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev. Ian Henderson, said: ‘As someone who spent most of my ministry in the Republic of Ireland, I was shocked to discover the number of children and families living in poverty in Northern Ireland.
‘Northern Ireland has some of the highest levels of childhood poverty in Europe and twice that of any other part of the UK. This has to be a matter of great concern for us all. I am very happy to join my colleagues in the other Churches in raising our voices for the 40,000 children in Northern Ireland who live in severe childhood poverty. Many of these children could be further disadvantaged by these reforms. This is simply unacceptable in any decent, developed society and we will be saying that very clearly to Lord Freud and his colleagues.’
Cardinal Seàn Brady, leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, said: ‘There is a lot of talk these days about a shared future in Northern Ireland. Well, the terrible reality is that all traditions in Northern Ireland share some of the highest levels of chid poverty, fuel poverty, disability and unemployment levels on these islands.
‘Today we are taking a united stand as Church leaders to say “give us a shared future which is a better future, not one that pushes Northern Ireland further back as the most impoverished region of the UK!”.
‘We are at a critical stage of the journey to peace and a shared future in Northern Ireland. We need investment for peace, stability and growth, not measures that leave tens of thousands of our young people without hope or a stake in a better future. We know that our local politicians could take their own decisions on this matter but we want to support them in making the case to Westminster that Northern Ireland does have unique circumstances and that these differences deserve to be taken into account.’