Barney McGahan, Deputy Secretary at the Department for Social Development, tonight paid tribute, on behalf of Margaret Ritchie, to the work of the Simon Community. Mr McGahan was speaking about the future delivery of social housing and its impact on society. He said: “Provision of a good stable home is central to tackling social exclusion and a wide range of complex problems, such as, unemployment, poor health, low income, low educational attainment, deprived neighbourhoods, crime and anti-social behaviour.” In praising the hard work and dedication of everyone in the housing sector Mr McGahan said: “Social Housing in Northern Ireland has been transformed in the past 35 years. We should be proud of this success. Yet, more needs to be done to address homelessness. Margaret Ritchie, the Minister for Social Development, greatly appreciates the excellent work of the Simon Community in this regard and I am delighted to be here tonight to pass on the Minister’s praise to Carol O’Bryan and her excellent team. Our society in Northern Ireland is changing rapidly and we need to develop new policies and initiatives to deal with those changes. Everyone wants to see a society in Northern Ireland that does not exclude or disadvantage anyone. Our challenge is to create the homes that build the communities where people want to live, work and socialise. Our ambition must be to make homelessness a thing of the past.”

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30 November 2007
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