Ross Hussey
West Tyrone · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“For years, I have been asking the police for information on weaponry that has been recovered and its history. For some reason, that information has never been released. Why? Can that weaponry be traced back to the IRA? Is there a possibility that groups that were IRA took their weaponry with them? Of course there is.”
“In my constituency of West Tyrone, and in the neighbouring one of Foyle, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has recovered many weapons and explosives, all belonging to terror groups that do not have the guts to give themselves a name or, at times, call themselves the "Continuity IRA" or whatever.”
“I begin by passing my best wishes to the police officer who was seriously injured last night and to his colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister for her response. Previously, I asked the Minister for details of prison officers who had retired as a result of injury on duty and was informed that the information could not be provided, as it was confidential. Can the Minister advise me why it is confidential?”
“I met Mencap yesterday, and we discussed the problems associated with adults with learning disabilities in West Tyrone. The figure is not £8 million: we are possibly talking about £110 million or more that has been underspent in West Tyrone and the Western Health and Social Care Trust.”
“I apologise to the Minister for not being here for the start of her statement, but I have read your statement and was paying attention as you spoke. You referred to paramilitarism and also to forensic services. Clearly, in the Republic of Ireland, quite a few explosive devices and arms caches have been found.”
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“The question is this: have those commitments been put in abeyance by the Budget stand-off and the Minister's August statement? That is the simple question that should be answered today. If it is, this Adjournment debate will have been worthwhile and not just another exercise in Minister-bashing and a pretext for issuing angry press statements to the 'Derry Journal' or the 'Londonderry Sentinel'. As I said, the Ulster Unionist Party supports the expansion of Magee college. We call on the Minister to clarify the numbers, the plan and the budget.”
“Members should note that exchange and consider how much more pertinent it is one year on in the context of a Budget that is more broken and stretched. I have to say that I do have some sympathy for the Minister, not with the way in which he blurted the news out on the radio but with the problems with his budget. Having said that, I have to remind the House that the Alliance Party did vote for the four-year Budget in 2011. <BR /> <BR />The Minister stated last year that incremental growth can continue. In December 2011, he said that an extra 700 undergraduate places would be made available in Northern Ireland by 2015. At the same time, the University of Ulster stated that the 322 extra places being awarded to it would all be allocated to the Magee campus.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is very easy and tempting to engage in Minister-bashing, especially when the Minister is not from your own party, but let us step back and try to calmly assess where we stand with the expansion of Magee. I note that Foyle Members have been asking questions about whether the Minister for Employment and Learning has received a business case for the expansion at Magee. It would be helpful if the Minister could be crystal clear on that issue this evening in the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />On 17 September last year, in a similar Adjournment debate, my colleague Sandra Overend asked a very salient question that cut to the heart of the question:”
“I have certainly no problems in supporting that. For the record, the Ulster Unionist Party is in favour and wants the expansion of Magee. <BR /> <BR />When Minister Farry made his announcement on the biggest radio show in the country — I cannot remember the name of that show — he talked about the pressures on his Department's budget, and he probably did not realise the storm that was about to fall onto his head. Dr Farry effectively said that the proposed expansion of the University of Ulster's Magee campus was off the table due to the Northern Ireland Executive Budget cuts. The loud condemnation of the Minister, in part understandable, has been well documented and, predictably, repeated here today.”
“Once again, I am delighted to represent my colleagues from the constituency of Foyle. I am pleased to speak this evening on a matter that affects the maiden city of Londonderry. As you can see, I am the only unionist here to do that, but I am pleased to be here to do so. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party in the Adjournment debate on the expansion of the Magee campus of the University of Ulster. In doing so, I am conscious that I am giving a perspective from outside the city walls of Londonderry. I can assure Members from the maiden city that this issue is of interest to those of us who represent constituencies like West Tyrone and the wider western and north-western part of Northern Ireland. As was said by Mr Ramsey, we want this institution for all of Ireland and further afield.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, do I have your permission to remain seated? Mr Deputy Speaker? I will.”
“Thank you, Minister, for your response. It was very clear from the reaction of the people there. One of the artefacts that the cameras focused on was a First World War memorial — very appropriately, as we are now into the centenary of the First World War. Will you be speaking at any time to your counterpart in the Irish Republic to see whether anything can be done to support this small and isolated community in Donegal?”
“Does the Minister agree with me that Londonderry's position as the UK City of Culture was enhanced by the participation of those pipe bands and flute bands from the Protestant/unionist community that participated in and supported the events?”
“Does the Minister agree that the totally disjointed cross-departmental responsibility for our waterways is impeding their protection and operation? Will she now at last agree with the merit in the proposal to transfer Rivers Agency to the Department for Regional Development?”
“Thank you. Reference has been made several times to the British Army. Indeed, Ms Ruane made reference to it as well. Do you agree that many soldiers who serve bravely in the British Army are actually from the Irish Republic? Where are they going to go home to?”
“There is no justification for blocking the House from making a reasonable conclusion. There should be a penalty for them as a lesson to others to ensure that any act that they book complies with common decency.”
“They have been present and have defused bombs left in republican areas by dissident republicans. Who would do that, if the British soldiers all went home and took their Union flags with them? <BR />Finally, I am disappointed that some have decided to sign a petition of concern. We have had very many debates in this place about petitions of concern. I am concerned that, by signing a petition of concern, the Assembly can be seen as supporting the caustic remarks of this band. They were wrong —”
“My understanding of the Irish language is virtually non-existent, but I understand that "fleadh" means "festival". They are very much part of the Irish culture and, generally, are warmly received in the community, but the Druids brought shame on themselves and on Ardoyne with this vitriolic outburst. <BR /> <BR />I am not from England; I am from Tyrone. No republican has the right to suggest that I leave my birthplace because I choose British citizenship. Again, it must be remembered that the 5,000 soldiers referred to are here because we are part of the United Kingdom. That we are part of the United Kingdom is accepted by everybody in the Chamber, so we have the right to have British soldiers stationed in this part of the United Kingdom. As I said, those soldiers have provided a service.”
“They were not met with stony silence. They were met with cheers and roars of approval. Sectarianism, racism and sexism are all wrong, but those people shamed the fleadh and its organisers.”
“He did not use the word "returned" but another word, which I do not intend to use because you might regard it as unparliamentary. <BR /> <BR />I am an Orangeman, I am a British citizen and, as I have said, I have the right to live peacefully in Northern Ireland, a state that is recognised in international law. The comments made by that lead singer were racist, sectarian and offensive, and the person who uttered them and his colleagues certainly did not benefit from one black penny of public money. <BR /> <BR />Some have said that the people of Ardoyne did not support those comments. The roars, cheers and yahoos that went up following those statements are an indication of what the people who were there thought. Had those comments been responded to by stony silence, you could say that the people of Ardoyne did not support them.”
“But I am a British citizen, the proud son of a Welshman — an ex-serviceman who fought for his country during the Second World War — and the grandson of a Ballybay-born British soldier who served from 1905 until 1926. There are many alive today because of the fine work of British soldiers who served here throughout the Troubles and because of the bravery of soldiers stationed here, who have responded to emergency calls when suspect devices have been abandoned by dissidents and bombs have been brought into towns and cities by those cowards. <BR /> <BR />My preamble is important because of the odious remarks made by an odious man who sings with an Irish republican group known as the Druids. I had not heard of that group before the fleadh, but I know of it now. The lead singer of the group uttered the words:”
“because we are entitled to protection under the law. <BR /> <BR />With that right to free speech we must also accept that there is a limit to what we can say publicly. In our society, we cannot decide to launch attacks on somebody simply because of their political affiliation, their religion, their race, their nationality or their gender. We have a duty as politicians to criticise those who launch offensive statements in public, because nobody is above the law. <BR /> <BR />I can trace my Irish roots back many generations through my mother's family and have no problem calling myself Irish. I was born in Omagh, and I am as Irish as anyone on this island.”
“Thank you. Living as we do in the United Kingdom, we are fortunate to be allowed what in some countries would be regarded as the luxury of the right to free speech. We can criticise the Government, we can criticise politicians and we can expect the law to represent us all without fear or favour. I believe that Mr Allister got it right in proposing his amendment, which:”
“Whilst the Minister's party leader clearly has no intention of sacking him, and it is clear that he does not want to see another split in his party, a politician of conviction would have done the honourable thing by now and resigned. Every day that you remain in office, you bring your office and the Assembly into disrepute.”
“The dictionary states: "misinform", "deceive" or "lie". If I were to stand up in the Chamber and accuse a Member of lying, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker, you would immediately rule me out of order and ask for the remark to be withdrawn, as it was unparliamentary. So, logic dictates that, if a Minister has been found to have misled or deceived the House, they have acted in a clear unparliamentary fashion. Instead of an apology, however, the Minister and his party have shamefully cloaked themselves by once again misusing their tool of choice — the petition of concern. <BR /> <BR />The arrogance and sheer political manipulation displayed by the DUP this afternoon is enough to make a dictator blush.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am concerned that the Minister's former private secretary Ms McConaghie could not recall who instructed her to make fundamental changes to the minute of the meeting, as well as retrospectively to the Minister's diary. Finally, I am concerned that a number of officials in the Department failed to speak out against what they clearly knew to be factually incorrect records. I did not take much reassurance from reading Will Haire's response to that when challenged. <BR /> <BR />Every Minister and his adviser is allowed to meet whoever they want. What they are not allowed to do is mislead the Assembly or one of its Committees and members of the public. That is a red line that should not be crossed. A clear majority of the Committee found that the Minister deliberately misled it. What are other words for "mislead"?”
“No, I will not. <BR /> <BR />That is just one of the claims that I simply do not believe. There is a raft of other areas of concern. Paragraph 82, on page 10 of the report, raises a very serious issue. In it, the Minister states that his adviser had no role in rewriting the note of the meeting on 16 April 2012. Throughout the rest of the paper it is clear that the only two people who could have made that change were either the Minister or his adviser. <BR /> <BR />The entire exercise has raised very serious issues about the actions of the Minister's special adviser. Having read through the evidence sessions, I find it impossible that Mr Brimstone could have thought that Turkington's would be writing to the Minister as anything other than Turkington's. Indeed, Mr Young from the company is emphatic that that was the case.”
“The Minister's supposed evidence in his defence to the Committee was implausible. For instance, are we really to believe that he became aware that the attendees at the meeting on 16 April 2012 were Turkington employees only when he read the evidence that they gave to the Committee in November the following year? That would mean that the Minister sat with his eyes closed and his ears covered during the ensuing alarm when the BBC sent a freedom of information request to the Housing Executive about the meeting and continually sent letters to the Department between November 2012 and June 2013. The Minister's claim is most unlikely, however, given that, if we are to believe him, he did not watch the BBC 'Spotlight' programme.”
“No, I will not. Thank you all the same. <BR /> <BR />Instead, I will look at the broad observations from reading through the Committee report. Essentially, the entire issue has come down to two widely conflicting accounts: that of a Minister, his foolhardy special adviser and a Department; and the opinion of the company involved.”
“Thank you. <BR /> <BR />I took part in the BBC 'Spotlight' programme broadcast in 2013. It was clear to me, based on the information that was provided, that the serious allegations being made about the Minister, his special adviser and their party needed to be investigated. After the furore of the broadcast, the only decision that the Committee for Social Development could take was to commence the inquiry. Others have called the process a witch-hunt. To me, that sounded like a guilty man's cries to deflect from the inevitable verdict. The background has already been well talked through, so —”
“I would like your permission to remain seated, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker.”