Poor 'worse off now than in 1996'

The poorest members of society in NI, both Catholics and Protestants, are worse off now than 10 years ago, a human rights group has claimed.

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) accused the government of even making things worse by ignoring differences within the communities.

It said the idea that NI as a whole was benefiting from increased prosperity and economic growth was "nonsense".

It said the government failed to target investment for those most in need.

CAJ Equality Officer Tim Cunningham said: "So many announcements from government that talk about regeneration and investment are going to places where there is already a level of economic activity."

Mr Cunningham said that "rather than genuinely tackling poverty in both Catholic and Protestant working class communities, government appears to be sectarianising the debate".

He said the government had "disregarded major differences in labour market trends between the two communities".