PA mediaThe Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) has met with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.
The Department for Communities confirmed that a meeting had been held to “discuss economic and social deprivation in the unionist community”.
It comes after Paul Givan faced criticism for meeting with DUP ministers last month over proposals to build an Irish language school in east Belfast.
The LCC includes representatives from the paramilitary groups the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defense Association (UDA).
Jivan previously defended his meeting, adding that no one but him decides which schools should open or close.
The Ministry of Community Affairs said the meeting with the Lions was set up at the request of the LCC.
The paper said on Wednesday that Mr Lyons “highlighted the work being done on anti-poverty strategies, ensuring an adequate supply of quality housing and the importance of education and skills development in poor areas”.
“Minister Lyons stressed at the conference that politics and democratic processes are the only way to successfully shape Northern Ireland and address the challenges it faces.”
The LCC said its delegation met with Mr Lyon to carry out “a new needs analysis for loyalist and unionist communities that continue to suffer from economic poverty, educational disadvantage and neglect of infrastructure”. He asked them to consider it.
“This analysis should inform ministers about where to target scarce resources to best address these issues,” the statement added.
The LCC delegation will also consider providing social housing in the Shankill Road, Sandy Row and Suffolk Road areas of Belfast, where “large sites have been available for years but have not been built”. We asked the Lions to do the same.
Some people have been “repeatedly refused access”
Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland told Good Morning Ulster on Thursday morning. “For me, the lines are blurred.”
“From my experience on community boards, I know that there are hundreds of grassroots community volunteer organizations who want to speak to the Minister for Communities but are refused.
“The Equality Coalition, which represents many of these organizations, told me they have been repeatedly refused meetings,” Mulholland added.
She went on to say that if the minister was “meeting with different organizations to gather information and learn from different communities, that would be acceptable, but that is not the case.”
Also speaking on Good Morning Ulster, Stormont opposition SDLP leader Matthew O’Toole said there was no evidence to prove that these groups fundamentally wanted to move away from paramilitary involvement.
“I’m troubled by the sense that we can create an aura of legitimacy around these organizations and conferences,” he said.
“There are great organizations in all kinds of working-class neighborhoods that are not connected to paramilitary groups.
“They’re not an umbrella organization, they’re not a representative organization, and they still haven’t been able to meet,” O’Toole continued.
“Gordon Lyons and Paul Givan have the power to create policy and improve the lives of people in these communities, but they should do so by interacting with groups that do not represent paramilitary groups. is.”
The Loyalist Community Council is an umbrella organization representing proscribed Loyalist organizations linked to terrorism – the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Red Hand Commandos – and is led by former Downing Street Chief of Staff Jonathan・Founded in 2015 by Powell. .
It was launched to coincide with the 21st anniversary of the 1994 Allied Loyalist Military Command ceasefire at the time.
