Jim Wells
South Down · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. In November 1982, I made my maiden speech in the Chamber, and, here we are, 40 years later, and I am making my last speech in the Chamber as a DUP MLA. I was the last person in the Public Gallery when the Assembly collapsed in 1976.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence and for your patience with me over many years. Unfortunately, Mr McGlone has just left the Chamber; I was about to thank him. I have enjoyed my 27 and a half years in this Building.”
“I wish that I could, but I have only five minutes. <BR /> <BR />That was so that a very small number of Irish language zealots could go in and register their marriage or civil partnership in Irish or in dual language: £261,000. Did anybody stop to think about whether there was a more cost-effective way of doing that?”
“We are all perfectly happy with a genuine expression of people's culture. That is fine. However, when the language is so cynically used by militant republicanism, unionism has difficulties. Why, for instance, is there no translation into Irish of the words, "United Kingdom", "Londonderry", "Northern Ireland" or "Her Majesty The Queen"?”
“The Member has made the point for me. The official who came to the Committee made it absolutely clear that £261,000 had been spent already. It was farcical to bring that before either the Finance Committee or the Assembly, because the money had been spent and the processes had been set up.”
“If they want the unionist community to accept the Irish language as a genuine cultural expression, they should get rid of the political baggage and extremism, and stop using the Irish language as a political weapon to try to subjugate unionism.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,869 lines we hold for Jim Wells, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 38 of 38.
“I suspect that this will be one of many similar debates that we will be holding during this financial year. In his letters to the Health Committee in April and August, the Minister made it very clear that he cannot deliver the health service that we all want within the present budget. He has outlined commitments of £160 million, which were put to the Executive, and he secured £20 million. So, we are at least £140 million short of where we want to be in funding. <BR /> <BR />The Minister and the Department have been very committed to the Western Trust. In the Minister's time, the Western Trust has had a brand new acute hospital in Enniskillen, for instance; we have the start of a new hospital for Omagh; and, of course, there has been the £66 million capital commitment to the radiotherapy unit at Altnagelvin.”
“Will the Minister join me in the delight that we have one of the top golf courses in the United Kingdom — Royal County Down — and will he give his assessment of the forthcoming arrival of the Irish Open there, which many on this side of the House welcome strongly?”
“The Minister is aware that the Leinster House Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality has unanimously agreed to recommend that the purchase of sexual services in the Irish Republic become a criminal offence. He raised the issue of human trafficking. Is he aware of that Committee's report, and was the issue discussed during the meeting?”
“Northern Ireland, Ulster, the United Kingdom and Ireland are much poorer places for his passing. There will never be another Ian Paisley. Even if Ian Paisley had been nothing more than a carpenter or a plumber, he would have been well known in his community, but he was so much more. I will find it an enormous privilege to tell my grandchildren that I knew Ian Paisley. I think that it is a great honour to be able to say that.”
“I was in Rathfriland campaigning, and he heard that someone who admired him greatly but was not a member of his Church was facing the valley of the shadow of death and was about to pass away from cancer. He dropped everything and went to that house. I will never forget the comfort, succour and support he gave to that family. No one could handle that type of situation better than Dr Paisley. While thousands of people from Northern Ireland will bless the day that they attended a mission or service at which Dr Paisley preached, there are many other thousands whom we will not hear about who have passed through into death with comfort and support from Dr Paisley. No one could do that better. <BR /> <BR />I have so many memories over the last 40 years.”
“He then came back, picked up his car and was driven to Londonderry to open a new Free church there. He then came back that night and spoke to the prisoners in Crumlin Road prison. He had four services on the Sunday, and he bounced into the office on Monday morning as bright as a daisy. I was absolutely exhausted, and all I had done was follow him. <BR /> <BR />That was the type of man that Dr Paisley was. He had the most enormous energy. No one can understand how anyone could work as hard as Dr Paisley. He often joked and said that he had a day's work done before most men were out of their bed, and I can confirm that that is true. He never seemed to sleep. He would regularly ring you at 1.00 am or 2.00 am asking for something to be done. <BR /> <BR />I also saw the spiritual side of Dr Paisley.”
“We have heard many eloquent words here today. I just want to focus on the enormous energy of Dr Paisley. I worked for the DUP between 1981 and 1985, and I well remember one Friday evening when Dr Paisley rang me up and said, "Brother Wells, I want to see you at Aldergrove airport at six o'clock". I said to Dr Paisley, "That is fine. I will have a lie-in, have an early lunch and see you at Aldergrove at six". He said, "At six o'clock this morning". I also knew that he was speaking at a DUP dinner in Kesh and that Rev William McCrea was singing. In those days, the Rev McCrea had a habit of gathering us all around the piano after an event and singing until the small hours, and that, indeed, is what happened. We sang until 1.00 am, I caught the plane at 6.00 am, and Dr Paisley spoke at an Orange parade in Glasgow.”
“The Member will also be interested to hear that, in addition to the Druids, this year's fleadh had the Fianna Irish rebel band. I am sure we would love to see a video of what went on during that concert.”
“Does the Member agree that not only did the Druids have form, but the event had form for many years. With anything billed as an Irish rebel night, there is something in that description that might give you a clue as to what is going on. That should have no part in a cross-community festival.”
“I apologise for calling the honourable Member a lady. Will she accept that, for many years, this concert had form? This is not the first time that the concluding concert at the Ardoyne festival was used to heap militant republican bile upon the Protestant community. It is not the first time; let us hope that it will be the last.”
“— in many parts of Northern Ireland. Is it going to continue to fund what is clearly a sectarian Ardoyne festival, or is it going to pull its money as well? I hope that it does.”
“Yes. There is, indeed, a need for a full investigation as to where every penny of public money went into that so-called cross-community festival. <BR /> <BR />Also, Ladbrokes has shops —”
“What is going on? Where was the board of governors? Where was the principal? Where were the staff, when they knew full well what the event was going to be like? There was nothing cross-community that night. There is a minority Protestant community in the Ardoyne, and I am sure that not one of them was at the event. Had they attended, they would have had to leave very quickly because of the bile and hatred being heaped on the Protestant minority in that way. <BR /> <BR />What is the SDLP playing at? The SDLP, quite rightly, condemn what went on, but it is not prepared to back a motion that has teeth and says, "If you're going to behave like this, you will not receive a penny of public money".”
“It was a waste of public money; it was an absolute waste of £5,000 of Community Relations Council money and, of course, DCAL money. <BR /> <BR />The issue that has not been dealt with adequately this morning is this: what was it doing in a school funded by the taxpayer? I have never been to Holy Cross boys' primary school, but why on earth was a concert of that nature held in a state-funded primary school? Can you imagine if that happened in any state-controlled school? There would be pandemonium. The board would have an emergency meeting, those responsible would be told never to let it happen again, and there would be an immediate investigation. Immediately after the event, the honourable Member for North Antrim Mr Mervyn Storey called for the CCMS to investigate. What is happening there? Where is the condemnation from that authority?”
“It had that well-known cross-community band, the Wolfe Tones, which, when they came to Downpatrick, performed one of the most disgraceful concerts ever held in the leisure centre. It was nothing but a front for republican terrorism. So the Wolfe Tones have form. Then, of course, we have the Druids. What did the organisers think that they were doing when they booked the Druids? All you had to do was to go to their website and read it long before the event was held to see exactly what the Druids' raison d'être is. They are a republican nationalist band; they make no bones about it, so you book them for the main event at a so-called cross-community event. The reality is that it has all the similarities of what was going on in west Belfast when a certain lady from south Down used to run it.”
“Indeed, the honourable Member for North Belfast is absolutely correct. What let the cat out of the bag on this occasion was the electronic media. This has been going on for years, but there has never been the evidence to prove it. Unfortunately, the Druids, who, I understand, are from the Irish Republic, rather misjudged the situation and put on their website material that they put to people in that school. Therefore, the cat was out of the bag, and we got a real sense of what the Ardoyne festival is. <BR /> <BR />Let us look at this so-called cross-community event. It was launched in a GAA club. Well, that is bound to have attracted a lot of the area's minority Protestant community. It was launched in a GAA club and lauded by 'An Phoblacht', the IRA newspaper.”
“Of course, the only way that that action can mean anything is if public money is withdrawn from this so-called cross-community Ardoyne festival. <BR /> <BR />There would have been an immediate reaction. Let us be honest with everyone here today —”
“Imagine a state-controlled school being used for a loyalist band concert and several thousand people, perhaps some a bit the worse for drink, listened to speeches calling for all the Hibernians and all the Irish to get out of Northern Ireland and go back to where they came from, to go and live in the Irish Republic. No one would regard that as an acceptable comment. There would be an outcry. The police would be in like a shot. There would be an investigation. The DPP would rush to scrutinise the file and ensure that those responsible were prosecuted.”
“The Minister is acutely aware of the problems caused to our community by cheap alcohol. Many of us in the House believe that the only solution is some form of minimum pricing. Can he give us an update on the situation regarding that suggestion?”