Interpretation of deprivation study flawed
Ulster Unionist Councillor Stephen Nicholl has challenged the interpretation of information collated for the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK report which found that experience of the Troubles led to individuals experiencing deprivation in the present. Commenting on the report Professor Mike Tomlinson of Queen's University, who led the study in Northern Ireland, is quoted as stating: "Experience of violent events in the past increased the chances of suffering from multiple deprivation in the present." Councillor Nicholl who spent many years working in Inner North Belfast has challenged that interpretation. "Throughout the last 40 years study after study showed that those living in deprived areas, specifically in inner city areas where communities lived cheek by jowl suffered the most during the Troubles. Rather than coming after the Troubles, deprivation preceded it. It remains one of the most challenging issues that society must contend with