A short history of
the Belfast Interface Project
2.
1995 - 2000:
b)
Management and accountability issues:
BIP, since its inception, had essentially a ‘hybrid’
relationship with the NI Community Relations Council (CRC).
On one hand, BIP was independent of CRC, in that CRC had
no direct management role in terms of the work of BIP
although CRC was represented on the steering group of
the project. On another hand, BIP was linked to CRC in
that CRC provided key financial support services for the
project, staff were officially contracted to CRC’s
employment and the project’s grant-aid was routed
and administered through CRC.
The direction of the practical work of BIP over this period
was provided by a steering group – the Belfast Interface
Group - made up of representatives nominated by a range
of agencies with an interest in this area of work.
The status of the project, as described above, had been
the preferred option of this group initially - providing
the steering group with a controlling influence over the
work of the project but without the perceived burden of
formal management status. An important by-product of this
management system, however, was that the project, notwithstanding
the commitment and support of the steering group, had
no constitution, criteria for membership or clear mechanism
to ensure the project’s accountability to its ‘user-base’. |
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