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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“However, it offered a road map on how issues that are at the heart of division in the North, including our cultural traditions and identities, could be celebrated on the basis of equality and respect. <BR /> <BR />Throughout my term as a junior Minister, I consistently sought to achieve not only the publication of the FICT report but an associated implementation plan. The issues that are addressed in the report were and are challenging. That is why an implementation plan was and remains the correct thing to do. Others resisted and frustrated all attempts to bring an implementation plan to the Executive. <BR /> <BR />The Good Friday Agreement and FICT report provide the reference points for addressing the display of flags and emblems on public property. However, effective resolution of the issue will not be found in a vacuum.”
“We need to take a zero tolerance position in these political institutions and in wider society on the undignified and disrespectful flying of all national flags, and we also need unequivocal opposition to the use of flags and emblems to entrench sectarian segregation, harass or intimidate. The misuse of public property to do so and the lack of effective legal authority exacerbate the practice. <BR /> <BR />Disagreement over flags or emblems is a symptom of sectarian segregation in this society. Instead, we need united political leadership to tackle sectarianism and issues of cultural equality and respect. The FICT report sought to address those issues. It did not provide all the solutions. It identified where challenges remain. Disagreement over the erection and use of flags, particularly on public property, is a case in point.”
“First Minister, will you expand on the specific discussion that took place at the NSMC on the environmental catastrophe in Lough Neagh and reassure the lough shore community and my constituents that the crisis will be taken forward as an all-island environmental priority?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chéad-Aire as ucht a ráitis.”
“I want to highlight the significance of International Workers' Day, otherwise "May Day", tomorrow on 1 May. May Day celebrates the struggles and achievements of working people and organised labour. It also reminds us of what still needs to be done to maximise industrial democracy and workers' rights. Securing full union recognition and collective bargaining rights in all workplaces across Ireland remains a critical priority. Notwithstanding the challenging economic and financial realities in the North, our power-sharing institutions need to have the backs of workers and families. <BR /> <BR />I extend solidarity to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the international labour movement this May Day. I encourage everyone to participate in May Day meetings and rallies this week, especially on Saturday.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire shóisearach as ucht a freagra. An dtabharfaidh an tAire sóisearach uasdátú ar an obair atá idir lámha leis na struchtúir agus córais a chur ar bun a leagtar amach san Acht Féiniúlachta agus Teanga?”
“Last year, commercial fishermen and their families were exposed to extreme financial hardship as a direct result of the virtual collapse of the eel fishing season. The eel fishing season resumes on 1 May. What more can be done to provide protections to ensure that they are not exposed to the same financial hardship this year?”
“I will write directly to the AERA Minister to highlight that priority.”
“The ecological catastrophe on Lough Neagh is an environmental crisis for the region, but it has also been a financial disaster for the commercial fishermen and their families, who rely on the lough for their income. The eel fishing season normally lasts for six months. Last year, it lasted only six weeks, meaning that there was massive financial devastation for our freshwater fishing industry in the lough. <BR /> <BR />The eel fishing season will resume on 1 May, and local fishermen will not be able to sustain financial losses such as they experienced last year. We need a robust cross-departmental and inter-agency plan that not only tackles the crisis in Lough Neagh but addresses the financial hardship that fishermen have experienced and ensures that they will not be exposed to similar financial pressures this year.”
“Minister, can you expand on the circumstances in which suppliers can be excluded from the awarding of government contracts and the extent to which public interest, public ethics and human rights influence that process, please?”
“Minister, in developing policy and strategy around social enterprise, will you give greater consideration to stronger support for workers' buyouts?”
“If we embrace that discussion as a shared opportunity, the end can take the form of a public policy framework and Programme for Government that conform to democratic equality, needs-based outcomes and, most importantly, a political and policy consensus that puts the priorities of workers and families in this place at the heart of our political institutions.”
“We must also begin to imaginatively and strategically engage with how the island economy, North/South implementation bodies and the North/South Ministerial Council itself can become new drivers for economic growth and productivity on the basis of good employment and working conditions. <BR /> <BR />The motion seeks to unlock a new economic debate about a different approach to industrial and employment relations, but that discussion is not an end in itself. It needs to become a process, involving our Assembly Chamber, scrutiny Committees and Executive Ministers, which widens out to and maximises popular participation.”
“That has been codified in 'Democracy at Work', which was launched here just last week. I commend that document to all Members and parties in the Assembly. It points towards a step change, which, if implemented, will work for all in society. <BR /> <BR />That change must also extend to changing the financial model by which the region is funded in order to also guarantee the delivery of good, sustainable, proper public services. Collectively, we must campaign for and secure a financial settlement that allows the reversal of historic underinvestment and the consequences of Tory austerity in the North.”
“<BR /> <BR />The starting point for how to do so is contained in the New Decade, New Approach agreement. We need a new deal for workers and families. Those who suffer the indignity of wage inequality, poor working conditions and discrimination at work, and are pushed to the margins of society, are young people, women and disabled people. They are our family members, friends and neighbours. They are the essential front-line workers, who give most and get least in return. A new deal needs to be negotiated for all of them. That is possible. It can be done through social dialogue between the Irish congress, employers, Ministers and the Assembly; a properly structured tripartite model of engagement that conforms to the international definitions and standards that are set down by the International Labour Organization.”
“We all know, see and even experience the repercussions of the current cost-of-living crisis. The living standards that were once viewed as denoting relative affluence have now become the characteristics of the working poor. Those who are enduring precarious work have become described as the "precariat". The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has appealed to us all, North and South, to rethink our approach to dealing with those issues and to reconsider and embrace policies that were previously rejected as, perhaps, politically impossible. This is a time for new thinking. Continuing to recycle and use the same policy processes in the expectation of different results is a recipe for more of the same. A paradigm shift is required towards economic and industrial strategy and employment relations in this region.”
“The race-to-the-bottom approach throughout Ireland has created what the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has described in its policy paper 'No Going Back' as:”
“The overarching economic model that we live within has become a byword for workforce and workplace inequalities and exploitation. The motion highlights the nature of some of the most systemic inequalities that exist today, such as a lack of access to paid carer's leave, the lack of entitlement to keep tips and gratuities, fire and rehire practices, and bogus self-employment scams. My party accepts the amendment that is presented by the DUP. We feel that it is a helpful contribution to the scope of the motion. <BR /> <BR />The motion also extends solidarity to all workers and families and the trade union movement in their campaigns to improve workers' rights, terms and conditions.”
“<BR /> <BR />Chun críochnú, déanfaidh mé aithris anois ar an rann seo atá tiomnaithe do mhisneach mhná na Palaistíne. Cuisle na mban; aoibhneas na mban; cineáltas, cruthaitheacht agus samhlaíocht na mban; daoirse, streachailt agus fulaingt na mban; diongbháilteacht agus tiomantas do chearta na mban; macalla na mban; ré úr do mhná gan leatrom ná cos ar bolg; dóchas agus fís na mban lenár linn; Ní saoirse mhná na cruinne go saoirse mhná na Palaistíne.”
“Nowhere is that more starkly apparent than in Palestine, particularly in Gaza. This year, there will have been no celebration of International Women's Day or of Mother's Day, particularly in the Gaza Strip. By 8 March — last Friday — Israel's war had killed 9,000 Palestinian women, with over 54,000 injured; 5,200 Palestinian women have lost their babies; 50,000 Palestinian women who are pregnant cannot give birth in a safe place because there are no hospitals, medical centres or safe places in which to give birth; 65,000 breastfeeding Palestinian mothers cannot feed their children properly or look after them safely; and, in the north of Gaza, 350,000 women and girls are starving. Half a million Palestinian women are homeless. The women of Palestine need to hear, see and feel our solidarity.”
“Last Friday, International Women's Day was marked at Belfast City Hall with the unveiling of monuments to Mary Ann McCracken and Winifred Carney, two iconic Belfast women whose lives were dedicated completely to opposing slavery, exploitation, injustice and oppression. Both were champions of gender equality, anti-sectarianism and social and national emancipation. The struggle for women's rights is hundreds of years old. Many brave women through the ages have challenged patriarchy, class and inequality. Those achievements and that sacrifice deserve to be celebrated in appropriate and significant ways. <BR /> <BR />International Women's Day also points us towards what more needs to be done. In today's world, women continue to be denied economic, social and national freedoms.”
“it will be to show the political leadership that is, in fact, required for all parties, all politicians and all Ministers to be progressive and to work for all.”
“<BR /> <BR />The challenge that we face in meeting that scale of vision and ambition will be to deliver on proper power-sharing in these institutions and on the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Mar fhocal scoir”
“<BR /> <BR />We do not need to reinvent the wheel, because a pathway was set out for us to address those issues in NDNA in 2020. I suggest that two key steps need to be taken. First, we need to see the implementation of social dialogue with our trade union movement and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), the Assembly, our Ministers and the political structures of this institution. Secondly, we need increased investment and a new funding model secured for the North, linked to the maximum transfer of fiscal powers from London. That is not a job for the Finance Minister alone. Instead, we require cross-party, all-of-society and whole-of-government solidarity that campaigns for and secures the kind of economic and financial stability that is required for everyone in this region.”
“Last week, I said that an effect of Tory policy in the North was to turn this region into an economic backwater. The crisis in public-sector pay that we are discussing this afternoon is a direct product of that. The 14 years of Tory austerity in the North were not just a political choice and a political decision from London. The imposition of austerity here reflects a policy mindset towards the North and all our people — all sections of our community. English politicians have never cared about the priorities of working families here or, indeed, wider society. I contend that, for the rest of the mandate, a step change needs to be embraced right across the Chamber and in our political institutions with regard to workers' pay and rights and the sustainable investment that is required to maintain good, proper public services.”
“Beidh Sinn Féin ag tacú leis an rún. Ní mór gach féidireacht agus ardán a ghlacadh le infheistíocht agus acmhainní a mhealladh go dtí an áit seo ar leas an phobail. Lena chois sin, tá malairt slí de dhíth.”
“The deputy First Minister referenced the review of the international relations strategy. There is still considerable scope to develop and build on the strategy. Will she identify the new global challenges on which the Executive's international strategy must focus? Will she also advise what innovations she will bring to ensure that our international relations strategy is capable of meeting those challenges and opportunities?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chéad Aire as ucht a freagraí.”
“Minister, there is a widely shared view that one effect of Tory economic policy towards the North over the past 14 years has been to turn this region into an economic backwater. Do you agree that the transfer of maximum fiscal powers is essential to economic growth and stability here, and will you press that case at your meeting in London tomorrow and going forward?”
“Thank you, Minister. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has prioritised social dialogue as a process of consultation and policy formulation. I very much welcome the fact that, next week, you will sponsor the democracy at work policy launch here in Stormont. Can you set out for us how you envisage social dialogue being implemented between the trade union movement and your Department?”
“One of the most repulsive practices within the workforce, particularly with regard to young people and women in employment, is zero-hours contracts. Will your legislation bring an end to zero-hours contracts?”
“Minister, will you commit to introducing legislation to improve workers' rights and, in so doing, liaise directly with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a ráitis.”
“, a new approach is required for how we rescue Lough Neagh and protect it in the future. That will, ultimately, be found through the mechanism of public ownership.”
“That means democratic consultation and partnership with the lough shore community. The experience and views of fishing families, residents, community groups and non-governmental organisations, such as the Lough Neagh Partnership, must be heard and taken on board as we formulate the interventions that are urgently required. <BR /> <BR />Saving Lough Neagh must be above party politics in the Chamber. We need an all-party and cross-governmental approach to getting on top of the catastrophe. How we move forward requires, as I said, a cross-governmental, cross-party approach. To the Minister who is present and other Ministers, I say: we require investment. We need a joined-up strategy and action plan, and that must be founded on local partnership with the people who live by the lough and rely on it for their livelihoods.”
“Over the course of several months now, I have had the pleasure of working directly with NIEA and DAERA officials alongside other stakeholders associated with the lough. We had meetings in Toomebridge in September and follow-up meetings in late December. Those meetings were with NIEA and DAERA officials and a number of stakeholders who came together with me, including local fishermen and anglers, local residents and people who own land around the lough. We will share proposals with the NIEA and DAERA officials who attended those meetings at a follow-up meeting shortly. I trust that those views will be shared directly with the Minister's private office. <BR /> <BR />Minister, it is essential that democratic consultation and partnership characterise how we move forward.”
“More seriously, Minister, I genuinely commend and welcome your solution-focused remarks in response to the debate.”
“A contributor from my party re-emphasised the importance of public ownership as a priority for how we proceed. In conclusion, Alliance colleagues spoke of the economic repercussions that flow from this ecological catastrophe and the need for an integrated management plan. <BR /> <BR />I commend the new Minister's ambition in planning to lap the lough in August.”
“I very much welcome the contributions by colleagues right across the House. The Alliance Party amendment is very welcome. I agree with the need to introduce tighter sanctions for those who are polluting the lough, and we need to see processing interventions introduced in relation to how feedstuffs are produced and how fertilisers are developed. <BR /> <BR />DUP colleagues questioned some of the scientific analysis, but I appreciate that, overall, they acknowledged the need for cross-party engagement and intervention on the issue. Colleagues from the UUP spoke about the need for accountability and also concurred with the need for greater coordination. SDLP colleagues spoke about the need for interdepartmental focus and also reiterated the multifactorial roots of this crisis.”
“In my constituency, at Cranfield, just fields away from the shoreline, the waste water treatment infrastructure does not have the capacity to serve the growing population in the Creggan hamlet, so an urgent reset is required. We need a coordinated policy intervention, and we need to see, as proposed in the motion, an interdepartmental action plan. Lough Neagh must now become, for our Assembly, an environmental, ecological, infrastructural and economic priority going forward. I welcome warmly the cross-party interventions that have been made by colleagues today. Ní mór dúinn smacht a chur ar an tubaiste éiceolaíoch seo. Gabhaim buíochas le gach Comhalta a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht inniu.”
“The work that has been done to repopulate the shore with the curlew species is now being threatened as a direct consequence of what is happening. However, the issue is greater than that. Many fishermen depend on Lough Neagh for their livelihood. Last year, the eel fishing season, which should have lasted six months, was reduced to two months. That is the human reality of what we are now contending with. <BR /> <BR />Multiple factors have given rise to this catastrophe, and there are multiple consequences. Therefore, a whole-of-government approach is required. The lack of investment in waste water treatment is a contributory factor in what is happening.”
“No explanation was provided at that time for the death of the animals, but it was clear that there was a correlation with what was happening in the lough and that it was something profoundly abnormal. <BR /> <BR />The crisis on Lough Neagh did not happen last year. It has been building as an ecological catastrophe for a significant period, and what happened last spring and summer is simply the culmination of a perfect storm of multifactorial conditions. Lough Neagh is not just a place of great beauty and is not only a national treasure; it is something that cherishes and is home to a fantastic biodiversity, and, at this time, that biodiversity and the natural habitat of the lough is being directly challenged.”
“Almost two years ago, I stood in a field off the Creggan Road in early spring, and what was remarkable was the fact that there were no flies in field. It was not more than 600 or 700 yards away from the shoreline. It was apparent to me that something very abnormal was happening at that time. I walked up the road and went into the home of a fisherman friend, and he confirmed to me that there had been no flies or midges on the lough, that the water column of the lough, as far back as two years ago, was absolutely crystal clear and that this had never been seen in two or three generations. In the same period, dogs died on the lough shore at Rea's Wood, just around the shoreline above Antrim town.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht an-tábhachtach seo, nó ní ceist réigiúnach amháin í seo ach ceist náisiúnta.”
“I appeal to political and community leaders across our society to support the demand for an end to the war, to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire, to ensure that the medical and humanitarian relief being denied to the Palestinian people is provided and to demand that Israeli forces are withdrawn immediately from Gaza and the West Bank. It is time to end the war and to end Israel's illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. It is time finally to enforce international law, not simply to speak about it, and it is time finally to recognise the state of Palestine.”
“This is the 130th day of Israel's war in Gaza: 37,000 Palestinians are now dead or lying lifeless under the rubble of Gaza, and 1% of all Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip have been killed. In the space of one month, the equivalent of two Hiroshima bombs have been dropped on the Gaza Strip. Currently, 1·5 million Palestinians, who have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Gaza, are being pushed into Rafah — a place that is normally home to just 250,000. <BR /> <BR />This is an existential atrocity taking place in real time.”
“Ba mhaith liom cúrsaí reatha sa Phalaistín a léiriú sa ráiteas seo.”
“Tá Sinn Fein tiománta oibriú ar son gach saoránaigh; agus an cheannaireacht atá de dhíth a sholáthar. Déanfaidh muid amhlaidh le páirtithe eile atá ag iarraidh sochaí fhorásach a chruthú. Cibé rud a tharlóidh san am atá romhainn – ní mór duine, muidne atá tiománta do phróiseas na síochana, seasamh le chéile agus an fód a sheasamh ar son leas an phobail sna Sé Chontae. Tá barraíocht ama curtha amú. Ní mór deireadh a chur leis na leithscéalta gan bhunús, agus na bréaga atá á rá. Tá sé in am anois Ceann Comhairle, agus Céad agus Leas-Chéad Airí a ainmniú agus an Tionól seo a chur ag obair arís – sin atá de dhíth ar ár ndaoine – chan a thuilleadh cleasaíocht náireach ón DUP.”
“<BR /> <BR />Is é bun agus barr an scéil nach bhfuil an DUP i bhfách leis an chomhroinnt chumachta, mura bhfuil an DUP féin ag dul a bheith ar thús cadhnaíochta go huile is go hiomlán. Agus is mar gheall ar sin, a Cheann Chomhairle, atá an DUP agus a gcairde sna Tóraíthe ag déanamh a seacht ndícheall bonnchlocha Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta a scrios. Níl baint ar bith ag an neamhord polaitíochta seo le heasaontas ar an Phrótacal, is amhlaidh a bhaineann sé go hiomlán le cailiúint chumacht agus thionchar an DUP mar pháirtí. Dá mba rud é gur mhiste leis an DUP ar chor ar bith, ba cheart go mbeadh a fhios acu nach bhfuil ciall dá laghad leis an chur chuige seo. Tá ag teip ar Chomhaltaí an DUP ina bhfeagracht don phobal i gcoitinne. <BR /> <BR />Níl an dara rogha ach Feidhmeannas nua a chur ar bhun agus freastal ar riachtanais ár bpobal.”
“Tá níos mó bruanna ar na seirbhisí poiblí s’againn, toisc nach bhfuil buiséid inbhuanaithe ar fáil dóibh. <BR /> <BR />Chuir mé dhá cheist shuntasacha ar Chomhaltaí an DUP an t-am deireanach sin. An bhfuil siad dáiríre faoi chomhroinnt cumhachta leis na páirtithe eile sa tionól; agus an bhfuil siad fíorthiománta do chur i gcrích Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta ina iomlán? Tá freagraí ar na ceisteanna sin á nochtadh anois de réir a chéile. Is léir do chách gur cuma sa tsioc leis an DUP faoin ghnáthdhuine. Deich mí ó shin, bhain an DUP an bonn den Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh/Theas. Sé mhí ó shin, tharraing an DUP anuas an Feidhmneannas comhroinnte cumhachta é féin. Agus, an mhí seo a chuaigh thart, theip ar Airí an DUP freastal ar Chomhairle na Breataine-na hÉireann.”