Former First Minister's Vision

In December 2006, the (then) First Minister convened the second Summit on Sectarianism. Opening this summit he said:

‘Sectarianism has been a shameful fact of life in our country for too long now.

‘Too many have seen and experienced sectarian violence and abuse - in our streets, our football grounds - and in our workplaces too. Successive generations have been born into a life of misguided suspicion and intolerance of others in their communities.

The truth is that sectarianism is completely out of step with the 21st century and the kind of modern, competitive and diverse Scotland we are building.’

The First Minister then outlined areas of progress since the first summit in February 2005. He referred in particular to the four key areas within the  Action Plan to Tackle Sectarianism in Scotland (January 2006) of marches and parades, education, sport and faith.  He reminded those gathered to celebrate progress but to avoid complacency.

‘We have made progress on all these fronts - but, as we move into this second phase of action on sectarianism, I believe that we must raise the bar.

We no longer pretend in Scotland that sectarianism doesn't exist. It is now openly acknowledged as a problem that we are committed to solving together. Our efforts will be assisted by growing the economy, better opportunities, action on anti-social behaviour, and community regeneration.

The challenge for us now is to show people - and, particularly, our young people - that there are alternatives to the mindless sectarian abuse and violence that have held our communities back in the past, and the attitudes which lie behind them.

It is only by replacing these attitudes with a more positive understanding that we will ever be able to call full-time on bigotry and ignorance.

We all need to be in this for the long term.’

The transcript of the First Minister’s speech for the second summit as well as further information about how the (then) Scottish Executive planned to take forward anti-sectarian initiatives through education, sports, criminal justice and in partnership with key partners such as faith groups can be found in the Action on Sectarianism site.