Anna Lo said: “Every year over £1 billion is wasted on maintaining a divided society. This is shameful and cannot and should not be allowed to continue. I want to see a formal commitment from every party that the Assembly and Executive will focus on tackling the cost of division as a key priority.
“It is disgraceful that such a large amount of money is spent on maintaining a segregated society. It is simply not on and is doing a lot of harm to community relations. Alliance has made and will continue to make tackling segregation our top priority as it is vital not only to deliver more value for money but also to help deliver a shared future.
“This problem cannot be solved overnight, but Northern Ireland needs a clear action plan in place urgently that sets out how division will be tackled across all aspects of our society.
“The public wants segregation to be tackled and this is demonstrated by the high level of public support for integrated education in a recent poll. There is real momentum for change in our society and Alliance is leading this momentum.
“We need a firm commitment from all other parties to ensure that the next Assembly delivers real and meaningful steps towards ending division. This is a call for action. Alliance is leading the way on this – other parties must join us in the campaign to transform our society.”
ENDS