by Marianne Flood
The Rosemount Resource Centre warned yesterday that 'neutral' mediation is needed between young people engaging in anti-social behaviour and the paramilitaries who are targeting them.
Tommy McCourt, RRC Manager, said the groups which carry out punishment style attacks see it as ‘fire-fighting’ against drugs and anti-social behaviour.
But he claimed that young people at risk of attack did not trust other agencies - such as the police, the social services or Sinn Fein - to mediate on their behalf.
Mr McCourt's comments follow two shootings in the past week, that of a 17-year-old boy in the Bogside last Thursday and a 44-year-old man in Shantallow on Sunday night.
The Rosemount Resource Centre houses the Time 2 Choose project set up to help young people who are under paramilitary threat.
The programme offers an intervention programme for those engaging in risk-taking behaviour and mediates with groups who have threatened to use violence against them.
“We have to ask ourselves what is causing this," said Mr McCourt.
“The names are not just plucked out of a hat. The people carrying out these shootings and attacks would claim there is a justification for that act.
“That doesn’t imply a support for that action, but we have to respond to it. There has to be an acceptance by society that there is this underbelly and that those kids are not being catered for. They don’t fit in the normal boxes. They need innovative help.”
'No hope'
Mr McCourt said an increasing number of young people were ‘falling through the net” in society.
"There is nothing really out there to catch them,” he said. "The percentage is growing. It’s by no means the majority but it’s no longer the small minority that it used to be.
“What is happening is so many young people are falling out of the education system and facing a future with no hope so they start to engage in illegal and dangerous activities."
Mr McCourt said Time 2 Choose began in 2013 in response to calls for support from people facing intimidation and threats of violent attack for paramilitary groups. The group has since worked on over 1,300 cases.
However, since its funding ran out in June it has been operating on a voluntary capacity.
“There needs to be a proper mediation and intervention programme for young people engaging in risk taking behaviour,” said Mr McCourt.
“We used to have seven full time members of staff and access to a full time counsellor plus resources for diversionary activities, but now we just have two volunteers.
“This type of project can’t be sustained with charitable funding, it needs statutory funding.”
Trusted
Mr McCourt said Time 2 Choose has built strong working relationship with several statutory agencies and gained the trust of the paramilitary groups they engage with.
“You may not necessarily agree with what they do, but you have to be neutral,” he added.
“These people wouldn’t talk to the PSNI or Sinn Fein.
“They see us an honest broker and we have built that relationship.”
Mr McCourt suggests a community based project would be best placed to tackle what he terms the ‘black hole’.
“My view is the place for building such a programme is in the community.
“Young people do not trust the police or social services.
“Where you will get an organisation they do feel comfortable with is with a home grown group in the community.
“Where they have built up a level of trust and communication and the resources have been honed through years of experience.
“The black hole is getting bigger and none of the current services on offer are geared towards dealing with it.”
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