The Loyalist Village and the Romanians

The Loyalist Village and the Romanians

The intimidation of the Romanian migrant workers out of the Village in South Belfast has been widely reported on the media. Hands are now being thrown up in horror at the thought. Such hypocrisy! What would be the fate of an Irish speaking family, were they to set up house in the Village, the Sandy Row, or the Shankill? I leave the reader to answer the question. By the same token what would the fate of an Ulster Scots speaking family wearing a sash were they to set-up home in the Falls or in the Bogside.I leave the question unanswered.

While hands are being thrown up in horror about Romanians, the above is taken as the norm in Ireland because the Irish are sectarian. Since it is now being said that Romanians should be free to live in the Village, it should also be said that Irish Catholics should be free to live in the Village The Sandy Row or the Shankill and as well, why shouldn’t loyalists be free to live in the Falls or in the Bogside. That is the logic of the situation but that logic doesn’t hold in the six counties/ N.Ireland as is evident in the peace walls in Derry and Belfast.

However the issue of Romanians living in Belfast has a wider European dimension. This has to do with the unregulated movement of workers across Europe. The movement of workers is subject to a free laizze faire market where demand for labour sucks in an unregulated supply of labour and in this free-for-all the weak are pushed to the wall. This should be replaced by a managed demand and supply of labour. This should be replaced with managed labour market. It should be the function of a European government to classify where and by how much labour is in demand due to labour scarcity in the host country Based on these facts the government should recruit labour from Europe by issuing work permits to European workers ensuring there is adequate acceptable housing in supply along with adequate provision of social services in the host country. If the labour market is managed in this way a loyalist Village debacle in Belfast can be avoided and the sale of the Big Issue will be made obsolete.

Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein