William Humphrey
North Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I listened intently to all the contributions in the debate, and I have to say that there was a fair degree of hypocrisy in some of the things that I listened to.”
“On this Commonwealth Day, I commend the Minister, in her absence, for her programme. Earlier today, we planted a tree to mark Her Majesty's platinum jubilee close to Lord Craigavon's tomb. Are there plans for the jubilee celebrations across our education sector to be extended to uniformed organisations?”
“I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. I thank her for her candour to the House today in setting out clearly and very explicitly the dangers that this bad, and badly drafted, Bill will have for education in Northern Ireland and the ramifications for our young people.”
“Thank you very much. Only last night, I had a conversation with the chair of a board of governors. I have also met school teachers and principals. Quite frankly, I am rather perturbed by what the Member is saying.”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. He and other Members have made the point that the Bill will lead to discrimination. Does the Member agree that there is no such thing as positive discrimination?”
“The Member makes a very valid point. Earlier today, we debated the Climate Change (No. 2) Bill. A number of people who opposed the Minister's Bill made the point that it took so long — over two years — to get to today, yet they want to rush this Bill through. The same parties that made those points have accepted that this Bill is flawed.”
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“I thank the Minister for giving way. I welcome the Minister's point about community relations. We very much wanted to hear that, and I am pleased that we heard it.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. He is making a very salient point, so I welcome his giving way. I just want to say that Mr McElduff, one of Sinn Féin's Members for West Tyrone, claimed that Mr McCreesh is actually more deserving of international recognition than many of those who have received the Nobel peace prize. Does the Member agree that that is an absolutely heinous thing to say?”
“<BR /> <BR />I welcome and support the motion, and I commend my colleague Mr Irwin for tabling it.”
“Honeyed words in TV and radio interviews or in the columns of newspapers are one thing; actions to remedy the situation are another. Admit that you got it wrong, and, when you have admitted that you got it wrong, do something to put the situation right. <BR /> <BR />I genuinely hope that, in the interests of community relations in the city of Newry and across Northern Ireland, the new council will take action to prevent this happening again. When I read reports of the potential actions of SDLP and Sinn Féin councillors on the new councils — an Irish-first policy in Newry and Mourne, an Irish-first policy in Mid Ulster and a refusal to allow poppies to be sold in Mid Ulster — I am not convinced that the SDLP is not a hostage to fortune and will not do whatever the Shinners ask it to do at the end of the day.”
“Councillor Loughran believed, therefore, that it was entirely appropriate to name a play park after a convicted IRA terrorist. That is surely wrong in the eyes of all right-thinking people. <BR /> <BR />The decision is odious, wrong and disgusting, and it needs to be changed. It is time for the SDLP to undo this appalling decision, as they should have done in 2012. Failure to do so endorses Councillor Loughran's position and is further evidence that the party has lost its moral compass. It has shamefully campaigned to have dissident terrorists moved from prison. The party gives no credence to the fears, concerns and hurt of victims in Northern Ireland. That is how it looks to people on this side of the Chamber and to the people we represent.”
“That is an absolutely pathetic statement for a party leader to make on the issue. If the leader of the party is in a position to guarantee anything, it is an appalling decision. We have to assume, therefore, that either the SDLP cares nothing for community relations and the sensitivities of victims or that it agrees with one of its councillors, Councillor Kate Loughran, who said that she:”
“Given the import of the decision, the embarrassment it has caused your party and what your leader has said about the issue, I would have made sure, if I was leader of the party or the group, that my councillors were there. <BR /> <BR />Perhaps the SDLP leader should clarify what he is reported to have said in the 'News Letter' on Monday 23 February:”
“The 'News Letter' revealed on Thursday 26 February that the SDLP could not have been caught out by the importance or lack of importance of the meeting or its status for decision-making because the SDLP requested the meeting and the minutes of a staff and policy equality committee meeting of the council on Monday 19 January record that Councillor Carr of the SDLP proposed and Councillor McArdle of the SDLP seconded a proposal that the council arrange a special meeting of the said committee with full plenary powers. It gave them one week to 10 days to discuss the consultation.”
“As Mr Lunn has rightly said, 14 years after the SDLP supported it initially, it is still not sorted out. That is a strange comment to make when his party voted for this in 2012. The SDLP tells us that its policy is to oppose the naming of public spaces after military or paramilitary individuals. There is only one remedy: remove this odious decision and rename the park. <BR /> <BR />Initially, the SDLP excuse for eight councillors not turning up was that the party thought that the matter was to be deferred: not so.”
“This brings absolutely no credit to Northern Ireland. There is an old adage "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me". The SDLP leader, Dr McDonnell, said that his councillors in Newry and Mourne were wrong to name a children's play park after an IRA terrorist: I welcome that. However, the difficulty is that actions speak louder than words. I hope that last night's change of heart by the party will not prove to be too late. <BR /> <BR />Mr McDonnell told the 'Belfast Telegraph':”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. As a Belfast representative, I am only too glad to see investment coming to Northern Ireland and, in particular, to this city. I must say that I am amazed. Many of the people Mr Attwood made reference to in west Belfast live in the greater Shankill area. I have to say that, when jobs come to Belfast, whether they come to west Belfast, east Belfast or south Belfast — Members seem to be complaining about direct investment in south and east Belfast — it is the people of Belfast and the Belfast basin who benefit from those jobs coming to the city. Does the Member agree?”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I distinctly remember the First Minister making a contribution to the debate last week and saying that he had placed a copy of it in the Library. Perhaps the Member was not listening.”
“The Minister will know that the Irish Football Association has a superb programme for the development of youth football. Does the Minister agree with me that the poaching of young players by the Football Association of Ireland is not just wrong, but damaging and detrimental to community relations in Northern Ireland?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I assure her and the House that it is perfectly legitimate for people to protest and complain about the flag of their nation being taken down and still care about housing, the environment, jobs, security, social security and so on. That is absolutely consistent. While I am on my feet, may I ask the Member whether it was posturing by the SDLP in Newry and Mourne to put the Irish language first? Was that not political posturing before the upcoming election?”
“I appreciate that. Obviously, there has been no follow up from me because I did not get the letter or the drawings. I do not know what happened there, but perhaps, if the officials could forward those on, I will be happy to respond. Very clearly, the people who live there and pedestrians need to have this issue addressed. The Minister has seen at first hand that, very clearly, there is a problem. We are keen to have that problem addressed and alleviated as soon as possible, so I welcome that and the Minister's interest in it.”
“I thank the Minister for his answers so far. How will the Northern Ireland investment fund be financed?”
“Maybe you could. Who is involved in that stuntery?”
“Does the Member not accept the point that, if the Assembly were to do what he has said, it would completely undermine the credibility and standing of the Social Development Committee?”
“The Member, I think, was making the point in terms of the problem simply being shifted. When I was studying A-level economics at school, and I accept that there is someone in the Chamber who taught and marked it rather than just studied it, there was what was described as the unenthusiastic workforce. Given that the Member stated that that exists and that there are people who, I think he used the term, "haven't a notion of seeking employment", how would he deal with the issue from his perspective?”
“Did the Member say he quoted from Derbyshire County Council?”
“I am not sure whether the Member read 'The Guardian' as well as listening to Radio Four. I have sat here, as have many Members, through the vast bulk of this debate, but it strikes me that in some parties there is either very little or poor communication or, indeed, none. Does the Member agree?”
“I thank the Member for giving way again. Over the last couple of days, the Member has expressed his disquiet over the Stormont House/Stormont Castle agreements and so on in terms of what he sees is the lack of information and detail that he has as a party that was not signatory to it. I appreciate that, and the First Minister conceded that yesterday. Would the Member have preferred the institutions here in Northern Ireland to have collapsed, because that is how we would have ensured that the Tory cuts would have been imposed? That is how we would have ensured that the bedroom tax would have been imposed, and we would have had no control over that and no opportunity to alleviate that with the concessions that the DUP Ministers have negotiated. Does the Member accept that point?”
“I thank the Member for giving way; I appreciate it. In terms of the point that the Member finished before he sat down, does he really believe it? Did he not listen to the debate yesterday at all? He heard about the concessions that Minister McCausland got from the mainland Department, the concessions built on and secured by the current Minister, and yet he comes off with a statement like that. It is about getting a mix. I have had constituents come into my office who want one-bedroom bungalows. I have to say to the Member that there is not a plot under every bed, as he seems to think.”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. Having listened intently to what the leader of my party said and to what he has just said — his leader is sitting behind him — I ask the Member whether he is in the business of implementing the Stormont House Agreement. Does he distance himself from what my leader said about what his leader agreed to in relation to the Stormont Castle proposals?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. On Friday, the Member of Parliament for North Belfast, Nigel Dodds, and I met the principal of Glenwood Primary School. That school is due a new school and will be an educational hub for the mid-Shankill. When will the work begin on that development?”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way, and I welcome his bringing the motion forward. We saw terrorist activity in north Belfast at the weekend. I, along with councillor colleagues, spent time on Friday afternoon with youth providers on the greater Shankill. They told us that the drug problem is huge and endemic. Will the Member agree with me that it is not desirable but essential that the powers be fully extended and that the NCA become fully operational in Northern Ireland to deal with the issues of drugs, human trafficking, fuel laundering and criminality that are on a scale that cannot be addressed solely by the resources of the Police Service of Northern Ireland?”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. In answer to the question that I placed to the Minister, she said that I should get my facts right in relation to the Líofa project. I suggest that she might review the evidence given by the chief executive of Foras na Gaeilge to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee only a few weeks ago.”
“I thank the Minister for the statement. I note the issue of budgets and the equivalent between the agency and Foras na Gaeilge. Unfortunately, that disparity continues. The Minister will be aware that, last year, I asked for a Líofa equivalent project to be brought forward for the Ulster-Scots Agency because Líofa came forward from the Department to Foras na Gaeilge, which refused to take it forward and declined to do that. That has meant an extra £625,000 for the Líofa project coming straight out of DCAL and two extra staff. Where is the extra resource that will go into Ulster Scots, and why has she asked the ministerial advisory group on the Ulster-Scots Academy (MAGUS) to take that forward and not come forward with suggestions, as she did in terms of the Irish language equivalent?”
“I welcome the statement and the progress on the maintenance of the Erne system. I appreciate that tourism is not in her portfolio, but to what extent is there a joined-up approach between councils in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic, and between DETI and its equivalent in the Irish Republic, on the promotion of the Erne system as a tourist destination, nationally and internationally?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree with me that, on the very same issue, someone who lives in the United Kingdom — a member of the SDLP, for example — and pays tax to the British Exchequer can travel on an Irish passport because of the consent principle that they signed up to in the Belfast Agreement? They are now denying people here — citizens of the kingdom — the chance to have a Union flag on their driving licence.”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. To be fair to him and to my colleagues who have spoken in the debate, we are not asking anyone to have a tricolour imposed on them. We are not asking anyone to have a Union flag imposed. We are asking for people to have the option and not to have it dictated to them by a political party that has political dogma behind the decision.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. He makes a valid point. The SDLP talks about sensitivities. I would listen to its words much more intently and believe them if I were not mindful of the fact that that party ignored the sensitivities of the unionist community when it took the flag off the City Hall, called a play park in Newry after a terrorist and campaigned to get dissident terrorists out of jail. It should not be for the Minister and his political dogma to dictate whether there are Union flags on driving licences. It should be up to individuals themselves. Does the Member agree?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. At least he is engaging in debate, unlike the previous Member. <BR /> <BR />I want to make a point to the Member about the Stormont House Agreement. We have a situation in which agreement was reached — your party was involved in it and so was mine — yet, within a short time, that announcement comes from the Minister. I ask the Member this in all sincerity and being completely genuine: why has the SDLP signed a petition of concern on the issue?”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. Does she agree with me that, as the licences across the kingdom will be printed with the flag on them, the cost is for those who are sufficiently offended by the Union flag to have it removed? The cost is actually from the point of view of nationalism, not from the point of view that the licences themselves are being printed with the Union flag on them.”
“I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. My colleague Nelson McCausland raised the issue of Malvern Primary School in west Belfast. I have met the governors, teachers and parents at the school and I have stood on picket lines with them. However, following the education and library board's decision last week, one of the most deprived wards in Northern Ireland is going to lose its school. Those involved with the school are going to write to you as Minister. Given what you have just said, will the fact that you have agreed to close that school not be seen as an attack on that community?”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way, and I accept entirely his point. However, does he not accept that, whilst there is the delay of one year, as the Minister outlined in his opening contribution, the councils and the councillors who sit on the councils and who stood as candidates in May last year knew that the powers were coming down the line, meaning that that preparation should have been in place? That is especially true where councils are coming together in a cluster.”
“The Minister is quite right that the primary responsibility lies with the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. Is Fermanagh District Council taking a collaborative approach to the cross-border element? <BR /> <BR />Obviously, in the current economic climate, budgets are tight. Has the Department looked at the possibility of funding from the European Union, given that it is a cross-border venture?”
“I, too, pay tribute to Howard Hastings's contribution as chairman of the Tourist Board. From my time as a director of Visit Belfast, I know the energy and enthusiasm that he brought to that role. <BR /> <BR />The Minister mentioned the strategic direction for tourism, including the synergy between the new Tourism Northern Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland. I welcome that joined-upness, the economies of scale and the collaboration that that will bring. <BR /> <BR />Marketing for Northern Ireland is essential. Will the Minister tell the House how the review will positively affect the marketing of Northern Ireland nationally and, vitally, internationally?”
“At the risk of being scolded, I return to sea trout. The CAL Committee visited Strangford lough a number of months ago, and it met groups lobbying for the development of sea trout fishing in the area for leisure pursuits. Will the Minister advise the House whether she has been in liaison with DETI, DARD and DRD about the development of sea trout fishing in Strangford lough to market Northern Ireland internationally and attract tourists to Northern Ireland?”
“I thank the Minister for her answers so far. I welcome this project and the collaboration and joined-up approach between Belfast City Council and DCAL in terms of economies of scale. Indeed, I welcome the approach that Linfield and the Irish Football Association have taken in the development of Windsor Park as a national stadium. In welcoming those announcements, what progress has been made with Linfield Football Club and Midgley Park in the overall context of the development of Windsor Park?”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. As a former member of the Committee, I pay tribute to the Member for the work that he has done in the background to ensure that the Bill progressed through the House. To those who are sceptical about clause 15 — formerly clause 6 — I say this: had they listened to the witnesses who were brought before the Committee and the testimonies that we heard in Stockholm, both from those involved in the sex industry and the police, it would be clear to them that the Bill is about protecting the most vulnerable people in society. It is our duty and responsibility to protect the most vulnerable, who cannot protect themselves. That includes the young lady from Bucharest who was kept in a small, filthy room and got no payment but had to service up to 19 or 20 clients a day. Does the Member agree?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Further to that, what progress does he consider has been made by the recent Public Health Agency (PHA) public information campaign?”
“Does the Minister agree that it is important for young hockey players from Portadown and Lurgan and, indeed, from across Northern Ireland's clubs, to be able to participate in the Commonwealth Games? Will the Minister encourage Ulster Hockey to relax the regulations to allow a Northern Ireland team to participate in future Commonwealth Games, commencing in Gold Coast in 2018?”
“— across the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that we deliver the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Youth Games here in 2021.”
“I am delighted that, as we had in the previous debate around the Commonwealth Games, we have full agreement across all the parties in the House, and I look forward to the work commencing very soon, led by the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment but with commitment from all Ministers —”
“I welcome the Minister's commitment to working with and across Government, particularly with the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to ensure that the bid will be put in place. I assure the House that all of us will work together for the sake of the young athletes of Northern Ireland, who, at that time, will be in their prime and able to compete in the Northern Ireland youth games that we will host here on behalf of the Commonwealth across the Commonwealth of Nations. It is vital that that work is done now. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the commitment from all across the House to the motion.”
“We have met the Commonwealth Games Council, and we have had conversations with the chief executive of Sport NI around the very points that Mr Ross made in his intervention about ensuring that the maximum number of sports personnel are able to take part in the maximum number of events. The governing bodies need to address the issues that we have just raised. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the debate today. It was very good and positive. I will conclude by saying that, as Northern Ireland celebrates its centenary as a state in 2021, it would be great to have the Commonwealth Youth Games here. The Minister will have noted that our motion calls for the Executive to take action and put together a bid.”
“The same applies to rugby and rugby sevens. The Commonwealth Youth Games could be held here in Northern Ireland, but we may not have a Northern Ireland team taking part in the rugby sevens. That, to me, seems ludicrous. Both those sports — hockey and rugby — need to sort that out, so that we can have the situation that prevails in swimming or boxing, where you can compete for Ireland or GB at the Olympics, but you compete for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, and that is absolutely right. If we are to maximise our medal haul, we have to maximise our participation in sports and provide training and support for coaches. <BR /> <BR />We in the DUP are very keen to see the games coming.”
“Ulster Hockey really needs to sort out the issue of hockey players like Iain Lewers, who has to play for England and is no longer available to Ireland. Such players cannot play for the Northern Ireland hockey team at the Commonwealth Games because we do not have a Northern Ireland hockey team. There are two or three other younger hockey players who are following him into the England set-up and not playing for Ireland because they want to compete in England and then they can compete at the Commonwealth Games.”
“I am grateful to the Member for his intervention. The development of elite athletes, individually and in teams, is hugely important. I made that very point in our most recent debate on the Commonwealth Games.”