Cathal Ó hOisín
East Londonderry · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I thank the Minister for the statement. It is very welcome among the deaf community, with whom I work closely, particularly the Hands That Talk folk in Dungiven. I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on the provision of a signer here today.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra sin. I thank the Minister for his answer. The Minister will be aware that when public works continue over a prolonged period in the likes of Limavady, or elsewhere, many businesses feel that it is unfair that they have to pay full rates during t…”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an fhreagra sin. The Minister may be aware of a single corner on the Ballyquin Road in particular that has been the scene of five fatalities of young men in recent years. That corner was inexplicably removed from a realignment scheme some years ago.”
“The Minister has given us some clarity on the historical process of that. It is not about blame apportionment at this point, but these are schemes that have been in the mix — in the case of the Dungiven bypass — for some 50 years.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Beidh mise ag tacú leis an Bhille seo. I rise to support the Bill, which is very welcome, particularly in my constituency. I think that I am the only Member here who lives along the route of the A6.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as mo ligean isteach. I thank the Member for giving way. Does she agree that, in the case of funding bodies such as the Arts Council, there is a geographical barrier to funding? I think of the Ulster fleadh a couple of years ago.”
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“I thank the Member for giving way. I want to refer to something that was said earlier. A number of the projects went through and were approved, so what was the problem with the remaining ones? What were the issues there? Did they have to be seen, especially when they came from the old councils and not the new council, and, as others alluded to, at no cost to the new council?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. The change of mind perhaps happened when part of that audit was carried out. A visit was made to the facilities in Dungiven and people actually saw the state of the facilities. So, there have certainly been changes of mind.”
“There is a workshop next Wednesday, 8 October, and we encourage our council colleagues to attend and do as the Minister said, in her reply to an oral question from me on 16 September:”
“I am not sure that I got the meaning of the Member's question. I think that the legal challenge might be on disability access, for a start. or it might be on overall sporting provision. That is where the legal challenge will probably come from. <BR /> <BR />There is also the aspect of the interdependence of funding for the Rugby Avenue project in Coleraine, so I appeal for all-party unity on the delivery of all those projects for all the people of the new council area. I do not want to see any repeat of the deliberate dereliction of responsibility for the provision of sporting and community facilities. It has not been a very auspicious start for the new council, but I hope that it is not beyond redemption. I welcome the Minister's commitment to all the projects.”
“I think that the anger is directed at the dereliction, which has existed for historical reasons, and the fact that we do not have the facilities that we deserve and require. It is unreasonable for the Causeway Coast and Glens council to refuse to allow Limavady Borough Council to appoint a design team. After all, this is not the issuing of a contract; it is costings —”
“Unfortunately, some people voted against that. Indeed, some of the people who voted against it do not leave the place now and are very pleased with it, but that is enough about that. <BR /> <BR />There is some talk of legal challenges, which may happen, but I can assure Members that there is huge local anger because of the lack of provision. We should not involve ourselves in zero-sum politics, because equality delayed is equality denied. I believe that it is totally unreasonable —”
“In answer to the question from the Member opposite, I think that the bid came from the council. Obviously, the overall spend will be more than £2·5 million, but what I am saying is that the figure of £7 million may or may not prove practical. It may — indeed, it should — come in at a lot less than that. <BR /> <BR />We also have to consider that it is a capital spend over 25 or 30 years. I know that, during my time in council — I am sure that George Robinson will remember this as well — when we delivered the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre for £4 million, that worked out at an increase of about 28p a year to our ratepayers over that time. We also delivered the Scroggy Road 3G pitch for £650,000, which was fully funded. This is all part of an ongoing project that we have been trying to deliver.”
“There was a question mark over the costings of the entire project, but, given the commitments under the Programme for Government, the framework document and some newspaper and media speculation about the costings being up to £7 million, I am not sure how they could have come to such a conclusion, given that, at no point, had a design team been appointed. The costings of the design team are much less than that.”
“That was agreed and accepted by the statutory transition committee. <BR /> <BR />In May, the Department of the Environment deemed that projects over £250,000 would need shadow council approval. That happened when the council was on the cusp of appointing a design team. We then had the elections, and, at its July meeting, the Causeway Coast and Glens super-council delayed the project for a one-month moratorium. There was a suggestion of an audit of Causeway Coast and Glens council facilities, including the Dungiven project. <BR /> <BR />Last week, an all-party group visited Dungiven and the Limavady borough and was shocked at the provision of facilities.”
“The roof is leaking, the floor is lifting, and the entire building is not disability-accessible. Ryan O'Connor, one of our elite Paralympian athletes, cannot even use the sports pavilion. <BR /> <BR />Estimates are that it would require £1 million to rectify this. In fairness to the council, it had identified the requirement for new facilities some time ago. With that in mind, Limavady Borough Council commenced work on the delivery of replacement facilities, including the potential purchase of additional land adjacent to the existing buildings. A timeline was rolled out for delivery, including the consultation, which had over 200 people in attendance, including 70 clubs, organisations and individuals. An economic appraisal began this year, and a bid was made to DCAL for £2·5 million.”
“We also have a double amputee, Ryan O'Connor, a great young sportsman, and I want to touch on what he has done later. Of course, we have Special Olympians who competed for Ireland, such as Damien Murphy in swimming and bowls. <BR /> <BR />The current council facilities in the area are far from ideal. The council owns one pitch, which for much of the season is swamped. It has no floodlights, and the changing facilities are a converted shipping container. Recent building surveys of the sports pavilion building have shown that it is not fit for purpose. It was built in 1984 and is probably due for demolition and replacement shortly. Indeed, one recent survey showed such a deterioration that the showers, which have not been in use for some time, are a potential source of legionella.”
“Probably the most famous is Paul McCloskey, who was Irish, British and European light welterweight champion before he challenged — unfortunately, unsuccessfully — for the WBA light welterweight title in 2012. Likewise, his colleague Eamonn O'Kane — he was not referred to by name earlier — led the Commonwealth team that went to India in 2010 and returned with, I think, five medals, including three gold. <BR /> <BR />We also had five all-Ireland winners from the parish of Dungiven on the 1993 team: Brian McGilligan, Richard Ferris, Kieran McKeever, Eugene Kelly and Joe Brolly. Three went on to receive all-star awards. Jim McGroarty played professional soccer for Stoke City in England. In the Paralympics, Denis McMacken was the bowls gold medallist and world Paralympic champion.”
“<BR /> <BR />Dungiven is rightly famous for its sporting achievements and the wide variety of sporting codes practised in the area, be it athletics, boxing, GAA, soccer, bowls, badminton, handball, tennis, ladies' football, camogie, angling, boccia, squash, kick-boxing, golf, cycling and, believe it or not, we once had a cricket team as well. <BR /> <BR />I took exception to what Basil McCrea said about people riding on the coat-tails of some of our better-known sportspeople. Some of them, particularly some of the local ones, cut their teeth in amateur sports, where it was the efforts of volunteers to create the facilities that took them to sporting prowess in later life. <BR /> <BR />I think particularly of St Canice's ABC in Dungiven, which has had almost an embarrassment of champions down through the years.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Tá mé breá sásta páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht atrátha seo faoi ionad spóirt faoi dhíon agus áiseanna eile spóirt i nDún Geibhinn agus a cheantar. I am very pleased that my topic was accepted for debate, although that perhaps reflects the anger in the local community about the issue. We had a public meeting in August, and the anger was palpable, so I hope to address some of the outstanding issues that came from that. <BR /> <BR />First and foremost, I declare an interest as a sports club official, because of my community involvement and because I was part of the management committee of the Dungiven sports pavilion, which is one of the facilities that we are talking about.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree that the Department estimates that the amount generated could be upwards of £3·6 million annually?”
“I think that the Member is perhaps referring to the finds at Mobuoy, which is in the Minister's constituency of Foyle.”
“I welcome the fact that increased technology has led to improvements in the retreading of tyres so that more tyres are being retreaded. However, tyres and how we deal with them are still a problematic issue here. There is inconsistency between what we do here and what others do elsewhere, so there are hard questions for NIEA, and I hope that the Minister will take some of those on board.”
“All the regulations on reports to the NIEA during a year have to be tightened up.”
“Indeed, when I was in council, I risked life and limb on occasion removing tyres from fires and helping our local council officers to deal with that issue. There are issues further and wider than east Antrim to be discussed for dealing with tyre disposal. We also have, of course, the fly-tipping issue. <BR /> <BR />Another issue is the charges that are taken from people who change their tyres. I know of a certain lady who paid for four tyres on her car to be changed. As she was leaving the premises, she passed four lads going out with the tyres. She recognised the tyres and knew that they were hers because her name was written across the side of one of them, and she had already paid. I do not think that accurate records are being kept of the moneys that are potentially being accrued annually.”
“That individual has lost some 12 acres to the sea, and, with that, he has lost the single farm payment on that land, which amounts to quite a substantial sum. Indeed, in the area that he talks about, some 60 acres have been lost. That is quite a loss of land, plus the payments that could be gained thereof. <BR /> <BR />The bonfire issue is ongoing and really needs to be addressed. I passed a bonfire in Finvoy in north Antrim this year that was absolutely spectacular in its stupidity and its height. In its stupidity, it was built beside a petrol station. In height, it was about 80 feet high and made entirely of tyres. There might have been a wee bit of chemical leaching going on there as well. That issue has been left to local councils in the past.”
“It is in reference to things like hydroelectric schemes and other issues across the board. I refer to a letter dated 13 September from the Department to Oliver McMullan MLA, which indicates that there are no investigations into unauthorised disposal of tyres that involve persons whose full-time occupation is farming. Part of the reason for that is that there is no differentiation between those involved in farming and those involved in other activities. <BR /> <BR />Mr Wilson referred to baled tyres and the fact that they can be sent to England to be baled, but I believe that they can come back into this part of the world to be used for other purposes. I have a second case — one in my constituency — of a man who has acquired some of those tyres to protect his land from sea erosion, which I think is common practice across the water.”
“This year and down through the years, there has been a reduction in the use of tyres, particularly for silage pits, because of round baling and new technologies, but this year has been an exceptional year, with three or four cuts of silage being done, and a lot of the old, redundant silage pits are coming into use again. Some farmers have required an increased number of tyres, maybe because they could not afford the new technology. That constituent has fallen foul of storing extra tyres because of that. He has been cautioned and visited, and he is quite concerned about his business. <BR /> <BR />I agree with much of what Mr Wilson said about the lack of joined-upness in the NIEA, not just in reference to this issue but to a lot of environmental issues.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I suppose that the first question people will be asking is: why is somebody from east Derry sitting at an Adjournment debate on tyre disposal in east Antrim? I agree with Mr Wilson that many of the issues that affect his constituency affect all constituencies, so his point is relevant, although, in fairness, I am here representing my colleague Mr McMullan, who is fulfilling his DARD duties at the National Ploughing Championships in Laois. <BR /> <BR />It was a constituent of Mr Wilson and Mr McMullan who first drew attention to an enforcement issue that he had with tyre storage on his farm.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra sin. Could I ask the Minister for an overview of the shared campus programme that was recently announced and, indeed, whether the programme is on schedule?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Will the Minister respond to and comment on the position on sports facilities in Dungiven as adopted, recently, by the new Causeway Coast and Glens Council?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra sin. What steps is the Minister taking to improve the spread of medals across the different participating sports?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra sin. Has the Enterprise Minister, working with her Southern counterpart on an integrated tourism strategy, thus ended the process of the marketing of the two parts of this island as separate little competing entities?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an fhreagra sin. What has been the uptake in the area where the project is being implemented?”
“The motion also states that it is time to stop funding. I just wonder what criteria could be applied to that. I therefore refute the motion and the first amendment and call for support for the second amendment.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I was trying to make the point that there are many places across this island, and particularly in the North, where there are issues with symbolic flags, parades and offensive language. I do not want to single out any, but some that I experienced this summer included Carrick, Coleraine, Limavady, Larne and elsewhere. We were told all summer that Derry was different, and, to a certain extent, it was. However, we saw the ritual burning of flags, symbols and emblems at a number of events in Derry, and there was no condemnation. To use a biblical reference: there are some who look for a speck in others' eyes while missing the beam in their own. <BR /> <BR />Nelson McCausland said that it was time to move on, but that requires leadership on all our parts.”
“In south Derry, we saw a coded message come across that contained the numbers five, seven, one, one. It took some time to work out —”
“I saw my friends' hearts drop. I saw the disappointment, anger and concern in their faces, because they belong to a generation whose parents came through the worst excesses of the Third Reich. I had that same feeling years ago, when I saw, in this city and across parts of this island, signs such as "Poles out" or "blacks out". I put that in the same category as seeing "kill all Taigs" or "kill all Huns". I abhor that and think that the burning of national flags, of whatever colour, religious symbols or political materials, including election posters, is wrong. I condemn it and wish that others would do the same.”
“Will those who tabled the motion also call for funded loyalist bands to halt playing provocative tunes outside places of worship or breaking Parades Commission determinations? <BR /> <BR />Over 20 years ago, I was in Germany — East Germany, to be exact — and I was out with a group of German friends of mine. We turned a wrong corner and were met by some graffiti that read, "Deutschland ist Deutschland. Ausländer ‘raus". Roughly translated, it means, "Germany is Germany. Outsiders out".”
“Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. I was going to get to that further on, if you had waited. <BR /> <BR />The implication that the Orange Order, with its unique origins on this island, should go home contains the same implication as the so-called 'Famine Song' contains, which says that many Scottish people of Irish origin should return to this island forthwith. Both are wrong. That said, republicans have a right to strive for a united Ireland and the peaceful removal of over 5,000 British Army personnel from this island. This can now be done peacefully and democratically. <BR /> <BR />The motion calls for the removal of funding from the fleadh because of this unfortunate and widely condemned incident. It was widely condemned by the Minister and by the organisers.”
“Sectarianism at any musical or cultural event has no place.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Beidh mé ag labhairt in aghaidh an phríomh-rúin agus an chéad leasaithe agus ar son an dara ceann. I will speak against the motion and the first amendment but for the second amendment. <BR /> <BR />Fleadh Ard Eoin is like many other community festivals that have taken place over many years, often in very challenging circumstances. Indeed, Fleadh Ard Eoin has been going for 24 years now. It has attracted thousands of people from every community over the years and has enjoyed participation from all hues of political and religious opinion and none. The programme contained over 70 events that took place over the five days of the fleadh. <BR /> <BR />What happened this year at one particular performance was the subject of an investigation. Sectarian and racist comments at any event are wrong.”