Declan Kearney
South Antrim · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“The 'good jobs' Bill is designed to benefit every single worker across this society, regardless of background. It is not anti-business. It is about growing economic productivity and enhancing employment and workers' rights.”
“The rhetoric around proper scrutiny is a complete red herring; it is an attempt by the DUP to run down the clock in relation to the mandate. Why is that? What is the DUP afraid of? Why is it vetoing the 'good jobs' Bill?”
“The fallout from Brexit is a reality that is being felt hard by workers and families across the North daily, and that is illustrated in evidence sessions that we have received in the Economy Committee. In one, we learned that our electricity bills here are now higher as a result of Brexit.”
“Catastrophic, kamikaze economics, politically toxic — there is no other way to describe the Brexit debacle. Yet, 10 years on, those in the Chamber who continue to cheerlead are burying their heads in the sand.”
“The fact is that Brexit has brought a positive focus to the democratic logic of self-determination and constitutional change in Ireland. There is a way to remove the negative and enduring legacy of Brexit. Irish unity provides that option. Therefore, it is time to widen participation in the debate.”
“Minister, do you agree that the discrimination in employment and the political vetting that have been practised in this state for so long, and actively supported by some Members, have no place in today's society, and that appointment to government boards should be open to all sections of society, including such citizens as Peter Lynch?”
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“This potential crisis is another example of how the democratic deficit caused by Brexit has left us vulnerable and exposed, yet pragmatic solutions, such as having EU observer status or opening a European Union office in Belfast, continue to be opposed by some in political unionism. Those representatives seem never to miss an opportunity to cut off their nose to spite their face. They then manufacture preposterous justifications for their opposition, including that such initiatives represent existential threats to the constitutional status quo. That is nonsense. Instead, work is being taken forward by Sinn Féin MEPs to address the potential funding crisis.”
“An amendment tabled by Sinn Féin MEP Kathleen Funchion has been adopted by the EU Regional Development Committee, which is calling for the central Brussels-funded allocation of PEACE PLUS to be reinstated immediately. A letter from Irish MEPs across all parties to the vice president of the European Commission reiterated that it was crucial to retain central Brussels funding for the PEACE PLUS programme post 2028. <BR /> <BR />Of course, the challenge of maintaining that financial support underlines the importance of this region having political representation in European Union institutions, particularly when they are making hugely consequential decisions about this place.”
“<BR /> <BR />That third sector of our economy has already been abandoned by successive British Governments, who have failed to live up to their spoken commitment to replace all European funding in the aftermath of the Brexit debacle. British Government policy on the North has resulted in a 64% cut to funding for our community and voluntary sector. The result has been thousands of jobs, as well as critical services on which many of our citizens rely, being jeopardised. The threat of further loss of investment in the delivery of vital community-led services, which include working with victims and survivors of our conflict, employment training opportunities, support for our young people and interventions in our most disadvantaged areas, must be addressed urgently.”
“Current EU budgetary proposals infer that, from 2028, PEACE PLUS will be delivered only through allocations from the British and Irish Governments, with no proposed central allocation from the European Union. That is a significant change and will have serious consequences for the continuity of available funding for PEACE PLUS programmes. Between 2021 and 2027, the EU contribution to PEACE PLUS funding totalled approximately €235 million, which was allocated through the European regional development fund (ERDF). The loss of such a quantum will have hugely negative implications for this region. It will create even deeper uncertainty for the community-based groups that have helped to drive forward our peace process.”
“<BR /> <BR />PEACE PLUS programmes targeted at health and well-being projects and at stimulating local enterprise have provided a vital lifeline for some of our most disadvantaged urban and rural neighbourhoods. In my constituency of South Antrim, for instance, we have benefited from the PEACE PLUS change maker funding programme, with a recent allocation of £4·4 million to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council that is specifically to fund community-building activities and infrastructure projects aimed at promoting well-being and reconciliation. <BR /> <BR />In late 2025, my Sinn Féin colleague Kathleen Funchion MEP drew attention to the uncertainty of post-2027 PEACE PLUS funding.”
“The European Union has played a pivotal role in securing the success of the Good Friday Agreement. Since the original Peace I funding of 1995, financial support from the EU has underpinned the progress of our peace process. Since 2021, over £1·1 billion in PEACE PLUS funding has been invested in the Six Counties and border counties. Significant investments across every council district in the North and the region along the border have ensured socio-economic regeneration and transformation. Those programmes have empowered and supported young people and vulnerable groups and promoted peacebuilding and inclusion work across our society.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“Does the Member agree that, for those of us who have raised children with special educational and complex needs who have become adults and live with us today, a U-turn on the summer schemes is not enough? We need a reset in how our children and adults with educational, complex and additional needs are treated, not only by the Education Department but by the Health Department.”
“— the implementation of a comprehensive renewable energy strategy.”
“Moving away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy will take time and strategic investment, but we can no longer prevaricate when it comes to how we address the challenges of energy insecurity. We are facing an existential challenge, so the immediate action that is required to deal with the unpredictability of the current energy shocks must be stepped out. At the same time, however, we must accelerate efforts to develop a strong, strategic focus on a just transition towards —”
“That needs to be addressed, and it comes back to my earlier point about the requirement for a whole-of-government approach. <BR /> <BR />The increasing volatility in global relations and fossil fuel markets underscores the absolute urgency of progressing a renewable energy strategy. That is critical to reducing our collective vulnerability to geostrategic events beyond our control, such as the one that we are living through.”
“Only big businesses benefit from the economics of war. The victims of the economics of war are ordinary working people and the most vulnerable in our society. The poor always end up worse off. <BR /> <BR />The British Government should, as an immediate measure, introduce a decisive windfall tax on all oil and gas producers. The British Government have the necessary levers to alleviate the pressures faced by customers. They should do so immediately by reducing duties on fuel for consumers and introducing a tax on the profiteers. However, doing so is a matter of political choice: you have to make the political decision that you are prepared to take that option. <BR /> <BR />Locally, our Department for Communities is responsible for putting a heat support scheme in place as soon as possible.”
“Thanks. Thanks for that intervention, but we have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. We need a binary approach. We need to address the scale of the difficulties challenging working families, and we need to look strategically at how to get on top of the spiralling costs associated with fossil fuels. The British Government should act immediately by making decisive cuts in taxes and in VAT on petrol, diesel and home heating oil to bring down prices for all our consumers. <BR /> <BR />The reality in times of crisis is that oil companies increase their profits. Kate referred to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Take that as an example: it is estimated that, in the four years since the Russians invaded Ukraine, the five major global oil companies have profited by $0·5 trillion.”
“Look at what is happening in Spain: that Government have already acted by reducing VAT on fuel products from 21% to 10%. Today, the Irish Government will introduce cuts in excise duty on petrol and diesel, although I will say that they have, to date, failed to deliver the interventions that are required to assist working families with home heating oil costs. <BR /> <BR />This war should not be used as an excuse to rip off hard-pressed working people.”
“A radical approach will be needed to navigate the extent of the crisis in order to protect our working families and the most vulnerable members of our community. That will require maximum collaboration between all Departments. In short, a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach is required. We took that position during the global COVID pandemic, when we attempted to develop a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach in our response. <BR /> <BR />There has to be engagement with the oil consortia and energy industry representatives. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the British Government generate about £24 billion to £25 billion a year from fuel duties. Taxes on petrol and diesel are 52·95p per litre, with VAT at 20% on top of that.”
“The fallout from the US/Israeli war against Iran has resulted in a global energy shock that is directly impacting on the least well off in our society, placing hard-pressed families into deeply precarious situations. In the midst of the existing cost-of-living crisis, workers and their families are now faced with unsustainable costs to heat their homes and fuel their vehicles. The local oilmen no longer sell fill-ups of tanks; they sell 10- and 20-gallon drums to their customers. <BR /> <BR />There is agreement in this discussion that our energy security has been fundamentally disrupted. The real danger, however, is that this shock will have damaging long-term and potentially permanent consequences in the foreseeable future.”
“That is very good news, Minister. Thanks for the update. Can you indicate how those outcomes will give us further resilience in continuing to attract jobs, improve the economy and expand those particular growth sectors?”
“Previously, DUP Economy Ministers delivered the renewable heat incentive scandal, which led to a black hole in our public finances, and a scathing report on the workings of Invest NI. With regard to your earlier comments, how systemic at a cultural, management and operational level are the reforms that you have introduced in the Department? How durable will they be to ensure continued success?”
“and adherence to the principle of self-determination and the primacy of international law”
“and a commitment to peaceful coexistence. Sinn Féin will not be in any way complicit in Britain's latest Middle East war alongside the Americans and Israelis. The Irish Government and the Assembly must become voices for peace, diplomacy”
“Those states are shredding the international rules-based order, and their aggression is pushing the rest of the world into a dangerous place where rules no longer matter and the law of the jungle prevails. <BR /> <BR />There must be an immediate de-escalation and a permanent end to all hostilities. There is no alternative to political dialogue, diplomacy, the primacy of international law”
“The United States and Israel have a long and destructive record of military interference in the Middle East”
“They purport to hold a higher morality than everyone else while shamefully warmongering, denying genocide and championing the same disregard for international law as American imperialists and Israeli Zionists. <BR /> <BR />Ordinary Iranian families and other citizens across the Gulf region did not choose the war, but they will now pay the human cost. In Ireland, workers and families will suffer a huge financial cost as they struggle to pay higher energy and food bills. Israel is already engaged in a genocide in Gaza and an illegal occupation of the West Bank. The current expansion of its military aggression beyond Palestine will further destabilise the Middle East.”
“The duplicity of some unionist representatives in the Assembly and the Executive is absolutely appalling. They abuse these political institutions to continuously rake up the past of our own political conflict”
“Petrol, diesel and oil heating costs here have already dramatically increased. That will lead to increased shop prices for local consumers in the North. Cost-of-living pressures for workers and families are becoming more extreme while big businesses continue to make profits. Capitalism always prospers in times of war. In the midst of those intense pressures for workers and families, a former DUP leader, Arlene Foster, has pressed for welfare cuts in order to pay for weapons of mass destruction for the British state. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the DUP favours despicable warmongering and is willing to have the most vulnerable pay the price for that. <BR /> <BR />Once again, political unionism is an outlier in relation to human rights, diplomacy and global relations”
“as the DUP's deputy First Minister advised us. <BR /> <BR />Meanwhile, the attacks by all sides have disrupted liquefied gas production and global oil and energy supplies”
“— not being briefed on military manoeuvres”
“The focus of our power-sharing Executive should be on international law and humanitarian priorities and securing the safety of Irish and British citizens —”
“Alongside the ongoing carpet bombing of Iran, Israel has mounted sustained air and ground attacks against Lebanon that have displaced nearly one million people. In reaction, Iran has mounted missile attacks against and violated the national sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. Hundreds of civilians are being killed in Iran, Lebanon, Israel and elsewhere, and tens of thousands have been injured across the region. Where will it stop? Huge numbers of Irish and British citizens work, live and holiday in Gulf States such as UAE and Qatar. <BR /> <BR />The DUP has tried to manufacture a cynical political controversy by attacking First Minister Michelle O'Neill's decision not to attend the British Government's confidential security briefings. Michelle O'Neill made the right decision.”
“Predictably, the conflict has now spiralled out of control, with indiscriminate mass killings and destruction, such as at the elementary school in Minab. The murder of the children in Minab, the attacks on hospitals and all forms of civilian infrastructure and the displacement of over 3·2 million people in Iran constitute war crimes. They are the consequences of an Administration who do not consider themselves accountable to international law. <BR /> <BR />The British Government's decision to join the US-Israeli war is equally reckless. It is obvious from the contradictory messaging from the US Administration that the Americans have started a war with no sense of how it will finish. The spectre of catastrophic wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya once again looms large.”
“Remember the lies that were told to us all about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”
“<BR /> <BR />The initial so-called justification for the US-Israeli strikes on Iran does not stand up to objective scrutiny. It is mere months since the United States president declared that Iran's nuclear programme had been completely obliterated, countering any suggestion of an imminent threat. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had already verified that no nuclear weapon capacity existed or was being developed.”
“We will not support the SDLP amendment, because it is the opposite of that common-sense approach. <BR /> <BR />The strikes on Iran are part of a broader pattern of illegal unilateral actions by the United States and Israel. The expansionist objectives of the United States and its Zionist ally are once again pushing the Middle East towards an abyss. Their war is illegal. It is not a legitimate response to the human rights violations, lack of democracy and breaches of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that have been taking place in Iran. The glaring irony of the military action is that the international institutions, laws and standards required to address the breaches of human rights in Iran are the very institutions, laws and standards that are now being violated by the illegal actions of the United States and Israel.”
“The decision by the United States and Israel to launch unprovoked military operations against Iran is a flagrant violation of the United Nations charter and international law. It is the second time in nine months that America has begun a war in the midst of a live political negotiation. Just days before it began, the US-Iran nuclear talks were concluding in Geneva under Omani mediation. To be clear, launching strikes during active negotiations violates the principle of good faith set out in article 2 of the UN charter. Yet again, the actions of the United States and Israeli Governments have fundamentally damaged the multilateral system. <BR /> <BR />Sinn Féin will support the Alliance amendment, which is a considered contribution to this hugely important issue.”
“Thank you for that intervention in relation to decorum in the House, Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />Minister, do you agree that warmongering should have no place in the House and that we should concentrate on what really matters to working people across society in unionist areas, nationalist areas and where people have no political allegiance? We should focus on building houses, uniting against austerity and ensuring that our kids who have special educational needs are properly looked after.”
“Once again, First Minister, some within political unionism have engaged in despicable warmongering and distraction and, of course, have cast themselves as outliers in relation to support for human rights and multilateralism. First Minister, will you commit to being a voice for peace, diplomacy and international law?”
“Go raibh maith agat. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chéad-Aire.”
“Of course, resolution of the constitutional issue and Irish unity are central to making even greater progress. In the Good Friday Agreement, a democratic mechanism exists to open a pathway to maximised economic growth, better public services, shared prosperity and a better quality of life for workers and families in all of Ireland. That is another strategic reason for the Irish and British Governments and all political parties North and South to start planning and preparing for Irish unity. The overall process of that transition will be optimised by setting a date for a unity referendum by 2030.”
“Through the NSMC and the Shared Island Fund, the Irish Government are committed to significant major investment in cross-border infrastructure, healthcare integration, environmental initiatives and educational measures. InterTradeIreland has played an instrumental role in expanding all-island economic coordination, particularly in the post-Brexit era. Cross-border trade is now at record levels, reaching over €15 billion in 2025. InterTradeIreland has supported more than 60,000 businesses, including thousands of SMEs. <BR /> <BR />Those are concrete and positive indicators. Planned all-island integration and cooperation is bringing opportunities to businesses, workers and families across our country. There are reasons for us all to be optimistic about the future.”
“All-Ireland tourism has also been prioritised by the Department for the Economy. Collaboration between Tourism Ireland, Tourism NI and other industry leaders is now focused on growing visitor spending in the North to £1·3 billion over the next 10 years. That is an exciting target. Crucially, the Department for Infrastructure's all-island strategic rail review sets out a long-term vision for a modern, high-quality, low-carbon rail network with several important proposals, not least the reinstatement of the Knockmore line, with potential airport access in my South Antrim constituency. The work of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) has successfully deepened integration in areas such as agriculture, food safety, tourism, transport, infrastructure, culture and trade.”
“Cross-border apprenticeship opportunities have now become a reality.”
“Minister Archibald's apprenticeship action plan will enable workers, particularly our young people, to access the best possible training in their chosen field in any setting across Ireland.”
“The successful expansion of Ulster University's Magee campus has provided additional academic opportunities for students, North and South. It is now helping to drive the achievement of regional balance for the north-west. So, too, as my colleague has already mentioned, is the north-west learning city region project, which has implemented a major cross-border collaboration in lifelong learning. The recently announced partnership between Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology is another good example of increased integration between educational institutions. I welcome last Friday's announcement by the Minister for the Economy to increase postgraduate loan support by 54% for the 2026-27 academic year. <BR /> <BR />In the North, one of the biggest impediments to economic growth is our skills shortage.”
“The emergence of the all-Ireland economy is probably one of the most significant and positive results of our peace process. All-island integration benefits everyone. It drives economic prosperity, creates business and investment opportunities and improves the lives of families and people in every part of the island. Every Department in the power-sharing Executive should prioritise the potential to deepen political, economic and social integration. While important progress has been secured across health, infrastructure and economic development, significant barriers remain. <BR /> <BR />Of course, the key structural barrier to further progress is the existence of partition. Nonetheless, the Department for the Economy has advanced innovation and collaboration across the island, and there are many notable examples.”
“It should be a champion of the universal right to national self-determination for all peoples. It should be a voice for reason and progress against the threats and volatility of the dangerous world order that is being imposed on us.”
“The United States, by its acts of aggression this weekend, has betrayed and undermined a live political negotiation in which it was directly involved, and that is the second time that it has done so in the space of nine months. There is now an urgent need for a reset in global relations, and multilateralism must underpin that process. The European Union has an essential role to play in restoring peace and security in Ukraine and the Middle East, but that must be done in the context of international law and not increased militarisation and militarism. <BR /> <BR />Ireland's presidency should advance the important agenda of promoting diplomacy, peaceful coexistence and political agreement for Ukraine and all other places where war and imperialism threaten security and stability.”
“The war in Ukraine must be ended through diplomacy, negotiation and political settlement, and that will not be achieved through further European militarisation and increased military spending. <BR /> <BR />Ireland's presidency of the European Council should be used to positively advance our tradition of neutrality and non-alignment, and it must be used to advance the position that diplomacy and multilateralism must always take precedence over the drive to war and militarisation. Global adherence to the UN charter is paramount. International law must have primacy, and failure to observe international norms and negotiate the terms of peaceful coexistence has led to the attacks against Iran and has precipitated the latest war in the Middle East.”
“Thank you. <BR /> <BR />Thanks for the intervention, but you have completely missed my point. The presidency presents an opportunity to advance, deepen and widen the discussion within the European Union and in the Parliament itself. <BR /> <BR />My point about self-determination is that its denial is at the crux of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the occupation of Palestine. The right to self-determination and sovereignty is the most defining struggle of our modern era, and Sinn Féin stands in full solidarity with the people of Ukraine. We remain unambiguously opposed to Russian imperialism, which continues to wage a brutal war and continues to occupy the Ukrainian people's country.”
“The right to self-determination is central to the UN charter, and it is integral to the Good Friday Agreement.”
“The reunification of our country is a reasonable, legitimate and achievable objective, so the Irish Government should proactively embrace their responsibility to advance that aspiration by commencing the process of planning and preparation, and the EU, as it did at the outset of our peace process, will have an important role to play in managing that transition.”