Duncairn Community Partnership (DCP) was established to extend and expand working relationships across some of the most difficult and contentious interfaces in Northern Ireland, creating a formal partnership between community organisations in the New Lodge, Tiger’s Bay, Mountcollyer and Parkside areas and establishing extensive links with a number of government and statutory organisations.
Duncairn Community Partnership operates across two inter-community interfaces which were only recently among the most extreme examples of sectarianism and inter-community hostility in Belfast. In the 2000's, Duncairn Gardens and Limestone Road saw repeated, serious and sustained rioting, paramilitary activity and tension. Both communities were blighted by extreme poverty, ill health, urban dereliction and by low levels of educational achievement and employment. Although the communities were physically side by side, they were almost entirely segregated by political allegiance and background.
Hostility to the police was deep, sustained and often violent. Many members of both communities spent time in prison for conflict-related activities. Unsurprisingly there was almost no inter-community contact or shared infrastructure and few opportunities for local regeneration or economic development. Although physically close to Belfast City Centre, both communities were separated from the core by areas of physical dereliction and notably by their sense of isolation and exclusion from civic life.
During years of conflict, no area has taken a worse battering than North Belfast. Shockingly, within one square mile of the Duncairn Gardens interface, it has been estimated that over 635 people have been killed and more than 2,500 injured from both sections of the community. Due to the patchwork of small sectarian communities in North Belfast it is difficult to address the legacy of the conflict. For some communities in North Belfast violence is still an everyday occurrence, albeit at a low level, due to continuing tensions arising from parades, protests and during times of cultural community events.
With the support from the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), DCP is working towards the removal of all obstacles to normal, peaceful relations in the Duncairn area of North Belfast.
Duncairn Community Partnership is a non-political organisation and should not frighten or offend anyone. This partnership is not about making territorial claims or making communities feel pressured into making changes. It is not about redrawing existing boundaries. Rather, it is about empowering communities through consultation and dialogue, and when appropriate, and with the agreement of local residents, making small steps towards positive change.
DCP is made up of a number of member organisations, namely;
- North Belfast Community Development and Transition Group (NBCDTG)
- North Belfast Interface Network (NBIN)
- North Belfast Ministers Fraternal
- Newington Residents Association
- Star Neighbourhood Centre
- Malgrove (Grove Utd and Malachians FC)
