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This article is provided courtesy of the news feed at http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news

Northern Ireland's legacy of conflict and sectarian divisions has masked growing social problems, according to a think tank.

A report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) says the hallmarks of conflict remain an important factor in social breakdown in Northern Ireland, but adds the province faces a set of social problems 'entirely in common' with the rest of the UK.

In the sequel to its Breakthrough Britain report, the CSJ says 12 years on from the formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly it is time to look beyond the Troubles and address the province's 'crippling levels of social breakdown'.

The five drivers of poverty identified in Breakthrough Britain – welfare dependency, family breakdown, educational failure, drug and alcohol addiction, and debt ¬– have been exacerbated in Northern Ireland by sectarian strife, the report says.

It says the legacy of the Troubles has profoundly affected not only its governance, but its communities and individuals.

‘Many of those most profoundly affected by social breakdown have known severe disadvantage and heightened community conflict. As a result, there exists in Northern Ireland a fragility which can be seen in the high levels of interrelated worklessness, alcoholism and depression.’

The report says it has been estimated that around a quarter more people suffer from mental health disorders than they do in England and Scotland.

It adds that some parts of Northern Ireland suffer far worse levels of family breakdown than the national picture and that two-thirds of people have no or low qualifications.

But while this social breakdown may be more pronounced, the report says the fundamental need to tackle the underlying drivers of poverty and interrupt cycles of intergenerational social exclusion remains the same.

The study also finds many instances of outstanding work by volunteers and communities in Northern Ireland from which the rest of the UK can learn, and which place it in a better position to tackle some of the most difficult issues.

The report says the political system in Northern Ireland, primarily concerned with the necessity of delivering political stability, must begin to provide answers to the severe social problems outlined here – with the aim of reversing decades of social breakdown.

Gavin Poole, CSJ executive director, said 'Although social breakdown may be more pronounced in a society marred by a legacy of social division and conflict, the urgent need to tackle the causes of poverty remains the same.'

Quintin Oliver, adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in Northern Ireland, welcomed the report and said unless the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder realted to the Troubles is dealt with, the cycle of deprivation would continue.

He added: 'We have made significant tracks in the peace process and we should address those social issues that are not on the whole any different across these islands.'