We look at the stories that were making the headlines this week in 1983
Calls for better homes
FOLLOWING Tuesday’s action the West Belfast Tenants Action Committee issued the following statement: “We mounted a mass picket outside the head office of the Housing Executive to protest at the cancellation of much-needed refurbishing schemes in 11 areas of West Belfast.
Despite the fact that this picket was violently attacked by a large force of R.U.C. men the protest was large enough to successfully highlight the strength of feeling and discontent with the Housing Executive's performance.
"Unfortunately," says the TAC, "the Housing Executive has continued to ignore all reasoned argument and under the all covering blanket of 'Government cutbacks' is allowing areas of potentially good housing to fall into decay. As a result of this continuing intransigent attitude the WBTAC has organised this week's occupation of Housing Executive suboffices in West Belfast.
"However, as our demands demonstrate, we are fully aware that the housing problems which we face are part of the overall problems of West Belfast and result from the general neglect of the area by the Housing Executive and its forerunners.
“For this reason we intend to hold a march to the City Hall on 8th October (the 51st. anniversary of the Out Door Relief protests) as a protest at the abject failure of the Housing Executive to provide adequate housing for the people of West Belfast.
“We have called for the support of every housing group in West Belfast and already many have pledged their full support," the statement continued.
According to the Action Committee the Housing Executive has made it clear that it will not initiate the long promised and much-needed refurbishing schemes it had promised in the following 11 areas:
Liverpool houses, Lenadoon; Upper and Lower Andersonstown; Turf Lodge; Orlit Houses, Ballymurphy; Springhill; New Barnsley; New Beechmount; Unity Flats; Moyard and Whiterock.
"The tenants in these areas are paying full, often exorbitant rents to the Housing Executive and we demand in return that the Housing Executive provide us with decent homes and repairs when and where necessary.”
Rent arrears below average
HOUSING Executive rent, rates and heating arrears in the greater West Belfast area is in general lower than the Six Counties average.
Facts and figures coming to light over the past few months show that, despite accusations by Unionist politicians and British Government ministers that these areas are a drain on the economy and a liability on the rest of the citizens, the tenants and rate payers of these areas do in fact pay their way as well as the rest of the Six County population.
" ...the net arrears in Poleglass are below the Northern Ireland average," said H.E. Chief John Gorman in a letter this week to Lagan Valley Sinn Féin man Richard McAuley who had written to him following attempts by Lisburn Loyalist politicians to have the Housing Executive stop the Poleglass Housing Development because of the level of rent arrears. When the Executive published rent and rates arrears for the Six Counties in July, the Lisburn Loyalists launched their anti-Poleglass campaign.
McAuley accused them off sectarian bias and deliberate distortion of the facts.
Editorial: Prorogue Lisburn Council
LAST week the members of Lisburn Borough Council paraded to a church service in Lisburn town, attired in all the regalia of High Office. Ministers from all the main Protestant churches were represented and they prayed no doubt for the guidance and wisdom needed to be efficient and just administrators of their public office.
In any ordinary society this would be something to be welcomed and encouraged, but in the case of Lisburn Borough Council it smacks of sanctimonious hypocrisy at its most extreme. These same "God-fearing" Council members are also the people who are carrying on a campaign of harassment day in and day out, against the good people of Poleglass and any other Catholic estate that has the misfortune to be in the area administered by them. Although they failed to stop the building of the whole Poleglass Estate, their success in halving the number of houses to be built has spurred them on to oppose every service and amenity in an attempt to make life as uncomfortable as possible for the people living there. We think that it is about time the whole Catholic community stood up and shouted 'Stop!' The people of Poleglass should not be left to bear the brunt of this vindictive campaign on their own. They are being discriminated against because they are Catholics and it is incumbent on the whole Catholic community to come to their aid notwithstanding the unpleasant sectarian connotations attached to such action. Without a doubt it would be better if honourable members of the Protestant community were to come out and publicly denounce the despicable treatment being meted out to the people of Poleglass, just as it would be better if the Catholic community were to defend Protestants if they were in a similar situation. But since this doesn't seem possible then the only alternative is for the Catholic community to band together and expose this immoral campaign and put an end to it.
It could quite well be that the Lisburn councillors are not capable of reform and in that case the Catholic community will have to demand that the Council be prorogued and its functions taken over by some appointed body or alternatively that a new council be set up to embrace the whole of the greater Andersonstown area including Poleglass, Twinbrook and West Belfast, which would be answerable to and administered for the people as a whole, regardless of their religious or political affiliations.
