SF and SDLP call for urgent action following survey
Sinn Fein and the SDLP have called for more urgent action after a labour force survey reported that Catholics are still twice as likely to be unemployed than Protestants.
Both parties are concerned at the continued differential between Catholic and Protestant unemployment rates. The latest figures show that the unemployment rate for Catholics is 8.3%, significantly higher than the rate for Protestants, which is 4.3%.
Sinn Fein says it's not good enough to say there is a downward trend. The party blames unionist resistance to tackling the legacy of discrimination and the failure of the British government to implement the equality agenda in the Good Friday Agreement.
Unionists, however, say that if the panoply of fair employment law and the work of the Equality Commission have not closed the gap, it shows discrimination is not the cause of the differential.
