Sectarianism in workplace dampens jubilee cheer

BELFAST BRIEFING:THERE IS a special bank holiday in Northern Ireland to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee. You might think there are few people who would not welcome an excuse to enjoy a paid day off work regardless of the occasion, but in the North nothing is ever that simple.

True to form, new research suggests that attempts by some companies in Northern Ireland to mark the queen’s jubilee could turn out to be “problematic”. Not every firm is expected to close for the day.

The fact that the late May bank holiday has been moved to June 4th, with the additional jubilee bank holiday on June 5th, has persuaded a significant number of businesses to take both days off.

One extra bank holiday might not seem like such a big deal but it is and more in Northern Ireland, according to Trademark, the Belfast-based social justice co- operative affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Trademark has just published a major study it carried out into sectarianism in the private sector workforce. Its conclusions are not anything to celebrate – jubilee or not this year.

“Sectarianism still remains a serious problem in Northern Ireland” and events and certain occasions, such as marking the queen of England’s 60-year reign, have the potential to trigger issues in certain workplaces in the North, it says.

According to Trademark ,even the London Olympics have “posed problems” for some companies because of its corporate sponsorship, which has a strong British theme.

The group conducted more than 40 interviews in private sector companies and surveyed 2,500 workers in a large retail company as part of its study.

It found that “low-level but persistent sectarian harassment is a feature of too many workplaces in Northern Ireland”.

Trademark says “the segregated nature of Northern Ireland” ensures the continuation of workplace cultures that are “partisan” to the majority workforce, whether that is Catholic or Protestant. It also finds that tensions outside of the workplace have “a direct impact on relations internally”.

The study suggests there remains a very real danger that sectarian tensions in a workplace could, if not dealt with properly, “escalate to serious threats and intimidation”.

It is depressing that, in 2012, some people in Northern Ireland still need to be reminded that there is a bigger picture to worry about. It is highly unlikely that if this piece of research had made its way on to the desk of David Bailey a few months ago, he would have been as enthusiastic about the North as he was last week.

Bailey is the managing partner and one of the founders of Augentius Fund Administration, the first London-based fund administration company, to invest in Belfast. Augentius plans to create up to 164 jobs in a new centre chiefly because of “the availability of high-quality people along with a strong educational sector” in Northern Ireland.

People who represent the future of the North are those who can in any way help to bring jobs.

According to the chairman of one of the biggest business bodies in the North, despite the political peace dividend in the last 14 years, there has been no real economic dividend. Ian Coulter, chairman of the Confederation of British Industry, says the North’s economy has not moved on since 1998.