Emma Sheerin
Mid Ulster · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Given what we have seen unfold across the North in recent weeks, it is important that we acknowledge that they are people with particular vulnerabilities who are particularly sensitive and, with that in mind, consider our language.”
“No, I will not give way. You have rambled on for long enough in this place. <BR /> <BR />When it comes to the early clauses of the Bill, I, like others, put on the record our appreciation of the work of Geraldine Hanna and our support for the intent of Part 1 of the Bill, which puts the role that she has been carrying out impeccably thus…”
“I thank the Minister for clarifying that immigration is an excepted matter, which means that it is the responsibility of the British Government and nothing to do with the House.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Members will be aware that the DUP and some of its lackeys in the UUP cynically used petitions of concern, two weeks ago, to block rights for children.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak at the Second Stage of the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill. I am proud to be from a party that consistently supports the best available human rights advice on all matters.”
“For many years, Donaldson used his position of power to abuse and to escape justice. He presented himself as a role model. We now know that that was bogus and that his public persona was a deception.”
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“Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“Like my colleague on the Justice Committee, I welcome the extension. Whilst not perfect in how it has played out, we recognise the necessity for it and the fact that the Minister is bringing forward appropriate legislation to cover these arrangements. Therefore, Sinn Féin is happy to support this measure.”
“Like others, I echo the remarks that have paid tribute to Katie Simpson's family. This case has touched the hearts of many who have read the details of it, because it was sickening and harrowing. Katie was very clearly failed by systems that should have protected her. <BR /> <BR />Minister, have you given any consideration to a review of a specific offence of suicide that has been induced by domestic violence? Although Katie was murdered, even when it was thought that she had died by suicide, there was no further investigation of the person who was responsible for her death.”
“Minister, will you give more detail on the conversations that you have had with the British Government about the multi-year Budget?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra.”
“There is a massive piece of work here. A cross-departmental, multi-agency approach is required. We need to see it as a priority that victims, young people in particular, who are vulnerable to drug abuse and who get involved in those situations without an understanding of the implications and the danger to their lives, are not attacked or criminalised. We need to criminalise and punish those who are responsible: the dealers.”
“With the best will in the world, whilst they might not want to face that fact head-on, all that leads to is more suffering and pain in our communities, because, unless we challenge it, we will not deal with it. <BR /> <BR />I agree with many of the remarks that were made by the proposer of the motion and the proposer of the amendment about the need to deal with those disgusting individuals head-on. We have situations across the North where those people masquerade as some sort of political actors and hide behind the cloaks of paramilitary organisations. They are criminals; that is what they are. They are gangsters, and they control too many of our communities. We need to put a stop to that.”
“Pauline, it is commendable that you have managed to turn that pain into something that is positive for other people and that you are trying to help other young people in Jasmin's situation, so that other families do not have to suffer what you suffered. You should be highly commended for that. <BR /> <BR />The issue of substance abuse and drug and alcohol addiction in our society is multifaceted. Drug dealers are able to exist and profit from the suffering and misery of others oftentimes because there is a veil of secrecy around them. Shame and stigma exist when we talk about illegal drugs. I am talking from the perspective of someone from a rural area, where people often do not want to acknowledge that the problem exists.”
“In the previous debate, I commented that the particular blight on communities that we were discussing was concentrated in urban areas. The issue of substance misuse and abuse, addiction and the dealing of illegal drugs is often perceived as an urban issue, but it hides in plain sight. It is definitely an issue across all our constituencies and areas. <BR /> <BR />At the outset, I commend Pauline Duddy for her work on the issue. I have not met Pauline personally, but my colleague Ciara Ferguson relayed to me at the end of last week the sheer volume of work that Pauline has done in honour of her daughter, Jasmin.”
“Thank you. I doubt that I will need it. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Minister for his intervention. He is 100% right. As has been outlined, people have to ensure the veracity of the dealer from which they buy those products and ensure that they are safe for use. As others have said, there are lots of examples of different sports and pursuits that people enjoy. When they do so safely and responsibly, there is not a problem; it is when they do not do so that we face difficulties. <BR /> <BR />We support the motion. We want to work with others to ensure the safety of young people, which has to be the priority for us all.”
“Parents are under pressure to buy those items for their kids at times and maybe do not understand the implications of them. Without judgement or scaremongering in any way, we need to have a conversation, and there needs to be an education piece, to ensure that the seriousness of those vehicles, the impact that they can have and the very serious and dangerous risk to life that they pose is all understood properly.”
“It is, however, a significant problem in urban centres across the North. <BR /> <BR />Other Members mentioned that legislation is in place. Scrambler use on public roads and outside private land settings is already illegal, and there is work to be done on enforcement and on educating people. Legislation is a very important and necessary part of the puzzle when it comes to a lot of these things, but it has to be implemented properly. Oftentimes, through ignorance, we have heard references to parental responsibility and parents' awareness of what the law is and what the dangers are. We talk all the time in the Chamber about the different risks and challenges facing our young people today that might not have been problems when I was growing up many years ago.”
“I will speak to the motion as our party's justice spokesperson and, I have to confess at the outset, as a rural representative for Mid Ulster. When I was first presented with the motion, I had to ask what exactly e-scooters and scramblers are and what the difference between the two is, because, thankfully, we are not blighted with them in rural south Derry. I am grateful for that. I see Patsy, my Mid Ulster colleague, nodding. <BR /> <BR />I am familiar with Grace's law in the Twenty-six Counties, which came about following the tragic death of Grace Lynch as a result of scrambler misuse. As I did my research leading up to the debate and read up on the detail and on the harm, it quickly dawned on me that this is a significant problem, although perhaps not so much, as Mr Durkan outlined, in our area yet.”
“They have the power to support people on the ground: the domiciliary care workers, the upland farmers, the people on our roads and the people who deliver our food, who are the people whom we are all here to serve. I would like to see us all doing that, united, instead of getting into the weeds and being unable to resist the opportunity to take a potshot where it is completely unnecessary. We would all come out of here an awful lot better if we spoke with one, united voice and called collectively on the British Government to act now. They have the power to do so, and we should demand that they do.”
“We disagree with the fact that the Minister for Communities was over clinking glasses with the very people who have caused this crisis and was then throwing shots at one of our Ministers, who was trying to deliver a package at the same time. <BR /> <BR />Instead of having tit-for-tat and a narrative of "Oh, they can't agree" — we do not agree on lots of things — we should all be trying to work together to serve the people whom we all represent. I wish that, instead of being party political, bickering and trying to point fingers and blame, we could all come out of here with one, united message, which is that the British Government have the funds to help the people whom we all represent. They have the power to temporarily cut fuel duty.”
“I absolutely think that it is legitimate, and I welcome your presence here. My problem is that you are completely mixing the message. You have absolutely every right to call us out on things that we do not do right. Nobody in any Executive party would suggest that everything that is done here in the North is perfect. It is a five-party coalition of people who are diametrically opposed in ideology. There will be issues that we do not agree on, and that is right and proper. That is a normality of political systems across the world. My frustration is that we agree on an awful lot. I made that point earlier to the deputy leader of the Alliance Party. We are aligned on a lot of these issues. We share a position. We disagree with the genocide in Gaza. We disagree with the murder and killing of innocents.”
“Whilst the Member correctly articulated that it is the UK Government, as he calls them, who have the power to change things here and are at fault for the funding situation that we find ourselves in, he used the same old line: "Sinn Féin wants to blame the Brits".”
“<BR /> <BR />It is a pity that our message to the British Government, who, at this time, are planning to increase their defence spending and increase the millions and billions of funds that they put into their war machine, instead of being a clear and united voice coming from every party in the Chamber and every representative of the people of the North of Ireland saying that they need to act decisively, now, to undo some of the damage that they have done through the wars in which they have been complicit, is a completely mixed message from a party that, not so long ago, was in the Executive.”
“This is a crisis not of our making, and whilst we may wish that things were different — it is my life's work to make things different for us all here — we do not have the powers in this place to effect the change that we would like to. War is a political choice, and helping people is a political choice. We talk often about the Big C, but colonialism and capitalism are the two cancers that discriminate. They discriminate against working people and the people who suffer deprivation most in society. We have America and Israel illegally invading Iran and killing innocent people across the world, and we have working people here in Ireland suffering directly as a result.”
“It is important that we are having a conversation about an issue that is affecting all our constituents and every community across the North. As others have outlined, however, it is regrettable that the motion takes the approach that it does, mixing up the problem with the solution. Like others, I was confused by the statements that were made by the Member for South Belfast at the beginning of the debate. It is regrettable that the desire to be party political has eclipsed the objective to help the people whom we all represent. <BR /> <BR />This conversation goes to the very heart of why I got involved in politics and why I am a political activist.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. At the outset, you referred to "bickering", and then you went on to talk about the DUP and Sinn Féin, while correctly articulating that the Communities Minister made an inaccurate claim about a Sinn Féin Minister and had to backtrack. Do you accept that that framing and that narrative are unhelpful when we acknowledge where the problems lie and that it would be better if we worked together rather than tried to point-score?”
“The McMasters are great people, and I love to see great people doing well. <BR /> <BR />Cahir narrowly lost in the semi-final last year, and this year he retained an Ulster title, so his boxing trajectory has been an upward one for some time. It has been obvious that this was in the pipeline for him. He can now say that he is an all-Ireland champion, and that will never be taken from him. I am sure that this is just the beginning for Cahir. It is not the end of his success. I look forward to watching that success unfold in the years to come, and I congratulate Cahir himself, his sister, Aoibhinn, his brother, Oisin, and his mother and father, Louise and Enda. I know that the whole of Ballinascreen is proud of Cahir's success and wishes him all the very best for the future.”
“I pay tribute to the newest champion of Ireland, Cahir McMaster from Ballinascreen, who was crowned all-Ireland champion after his boxing match at the weekend at the National Stadium in Dublin. I am delighted to speak about his success this morning. <BR /> <BR />Cahir is one of my constituents, and I know him well. Indeed, he, his brother, Oisin, and his sister, Aoibhinn, are three characters whom I regularly bump into. They are brilliant young people who always have time to stop and say hello. They have great manners, and there is always a bit of craic with them, so I am delighted at Cahir's success. It is a testament to the kind of people that they are that the first thing that Cahir's mother, Louise, wrote in her post acknowledging Cahir's success was to pay tribute to and thank his coaches at St John's Amateur Boxing Club in Swatragh.”
“As women, we do not always know the difference. If you are not part of the solution, you become part of the problem. I urge everyone to consider that and react to those events holistically.”
“While most of the 62 million hits in February and 81 million hits in March might have come from the United States and places other than here, none of that happens in isolation. This is the most dangerous place in Europe to be a woman. It is those disgusting videos that glamourise violence and normalise the abuse and assault of women that plant the seed in our young people that leads to women being murdered. We see that abuse and bullying even in the Chamber. Not long ago, we had tributes in this place to a woman who had been murdered from a man who had spent the previous weekend circulating souvenirs of his own abuse of a female colleague. It is not appropriate. It has to be challenged and called out. I call on everybody in the Chamber to think about what we endorse and to think about our behaviour. It is not all men, but it is some men.”
“I grew up in a loving home with a mother and father who loved and respected each other and who demonstrate partnership every day. I am blessed to have a dad who made it his life's work to protect and provide for me and my sister, and I know that I am lucky that I can say that. I am a member of a movement that cherishes men and women equally. I work with good men every day. I know them and call them my friends, and I trust them. However, even with that said, I have not been sheltered from the worst of men, and that is true for every woman. That is what we all have to consider.”
“I rise this afternoon to speak about something that troubled me all weekend: the CNN investigation into the so-called rape academy, which is an international rape ring and online forum where men shared tips and tricks on how to drug and abuse their wives and partners whilst they were most vulnerable and were sleeping, oftentimes filming the footage and sharing it with others. Everything about that story is vile and disgusting and should sicken the stomachs of everyone who encounters it. Some of the reaction to it has been equally troubling. <BR /> <BR />I have seen the phrase "not all men" used liberally in response, and I can understand the rationale for that, because it is not all men. Most men are good. I consider myself lucky.”
“Minister, I thank you for that answer and commend you for the work that you have done on this. It is another tangible example of your delivery since you have come into office. I welcome your update that the legislation will hopefully be in place before the end of the mandate. Do you have more detail on the educational aspect of safer journeys to school?”
“I welcome the strong condemnation of all hate crime and prejudicial language. Does the Minister agree that it is important that all Members across the Chamber strongly condemn hate crime and any sort of sectarian or racist abuse and that we all bear that in mind when talking in the Chamber by using language that reflects respect for all sections of our society?”
“Members in the Chamber realise that they backed the wrong horse and stood cheerleading for Donald Trump when he once again made a reckless decision based on his ego. Instead of bickering, we should all stand united for the people whom we represent and call clearly on the British Government with one voice to support workers and families here. Every war that causes needless and senseless death and destruction across the world and leads more innocents to their death has a knock-on effect here. The working people whom we all represent and working-class communities here suffer and struggle. We have to be their voice. Time and history have taught us that the British Government do not care about people here, so we must stand united to make them do so.”
“That is what Keir Starmer and the British Government want to do. How many cars would that put on the road? How many homes would that heat? How many people here could that support?”
“They choose once again to prioritise weapons of war over workers here by allocating an annual £13·4 billion extra to defence spending.”
“Today, as we return from the Easter break, the frustration and anxiety across our community is palpable. People are worrying about how they will pay their bills, how they will put fuel in their cars and how they will feed their families. They are worrying and struggling again because of war; a political choice. They watch innocents die across the world without having the bandwidth to do anything to support them because funds are so tight at home. <BR /> <BR />A political choice caused the cost-of-living crisis, and it is a political choice not to support people. The British Government could act today. They could cut fuel levies. They could put real, meaningful money into people's pockets, but what do they do?”
“Minister, you referred to the fact that you support the use of body-worn cameras, and I welcome their introduction in Antrim Area Hospital and then in the Ulster Hospital. What plans do you have to roll them out regionally across all trusts? <BR /> <BR />You referred to the legislative element. The Justice Minister has spoken about including assaults on front-line workers as an aggravator in the Sentencing Bill. What conversations have you had with the Justice Minister to bring that forward, and what impact will that have on this?”
“The USA was colonised at that time. We all were.”
“The USA was a colony of the Brits at that time.”
“We were all colonies at that time. We were all colonised.”
“Many people who fled from this island to America played a significant role in the American struggle for independence from British rule at the time and, in turn, influenced the foundation of modern Irish republicanism, as personified by Theobald Wolfe Tone. Is America250 telling the story of how the American War of Independence inspired the 1798 rebellion, and of the role that Ulster Presbyterians played in that rebellion against British rule here in Ireland?”
“Just on that point, the Member has already acknowledged that farmers in ANCs are at a natural disadvantage because of the conditions in which they operate. They are also disadvantaged because the transition to the flat rate did not complete, so they are being treated worse than other farmers as things stand.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way, and I appreciate everything that he has laid out with regard to budget and financial constraints. Is it disingenuous of the Alliance Party to say that it does not support the merit of the Bill when you previously supported a motion that my party colleague brought calling for the introduction of an ANC Bill in early 2020?”
“I feel that we need to be strong and steadfast in our support of all sectors of our workforce across the board, particularly our farmers, and to acknowledge that hill farmers are a disadvantaged group within that sector and are, as such, deserving of our support.”
“Well, that is the inference that I take from some of the concern about environmental regulation. This is a group of people who are already regulated, and they already face inspection if they breach a regulation in any way. I say that as somebody whose father, at this stage, has farmed for north of 50 years and has therefore experienced that at first hand. That is the point that I am making. Instead of meeting these people where they are and trying to support them in what they do, which benefits all of us, we sometimes treat them, in a lot of this, as if they have poor intentions at heart. That is not the case, and I appreciate your acknowledgement of that. <BR /> <BR />I have found a lot of the debate quite disheartening.”
“I accept that. My point is that, when you refer to — I take umbrage at how often farmers are referred to as though they want to pollute, cause damage and harm the land —”
“Any farmer could be reported multiple times in a year by somebody with a vendetta against them. Every one of those reports would incur an inspection, which would take the farmer away from their workplace for a day to go through a list of phoney complaints that, often, would have no basis in reality. My point is that this is a group of people who are already regulated to the nth degree.”
“<BR /> <BR />We are talking about a group that has been the victim of policy directives down the generations. Several Members have referred to how the scheme would be funded, which is a matter for another stage in the legislative process, but it is important to note that, last year, the value of the Department's reduction in requirements was equal to what the scheme would probably cost. That should be considered. <BR /> <BR />We see wastage across Departments, but, historically, DAERA in particular — again, I say this as a farmer's daughter who heard it at the coalface — has carried out unnecessary actions and inspections.”
“It is in the farmer's interest to work in an environmentally friendly way, because doing anything else would not provide a profit. That said, most of the farms do not naturally turn a profit anyway, because of the harshness of the conditions. Most of the people have other jobs, and they farm for the love of the land. They should be supported to stay there to do that, because research tells us that, when livestock leaves such ground, biodiversity suffers. That has to be seriously considered, because the long-term impacts of a loss of support for those farmers will ultimately lead to a loss of stock in the highlands. We have seen that in other places, such as Scotland, and we have seen it here since the loss of the ANC payment. My colleague referred to that.”
“As somebody who was reared on a farm with neighbours of all religions and none marching us, I know that that is not considered. It is really disappointing that the DUP has taken such a position. The Member can reflect on her comments and the rationale for them. <BR /> <BR />In County Derry, nearly 1,400 farms operate in ANCs, and those farmers need to be supported. It is not about creating wealth or supporting the landed gentry by any stretch of the imagination; it is about putting support into the pockets of people who work in difficult circumstances. <BR /> <BR />Reference has been made to environmental concerns. It is not possible, on most of the ground in ANCs, to overstock the land; it is physically impossible, and there would be no return from it.”
“I am disappointed today, because it appears that the DUP does not stand with all farmers. I suppose that, deep down, I knew that. I notice that the Member opposite is tuttering again. She made barbed comments — I do not know what she was trying to imply — about Sinn Féin's poster campaign about this legislation. <BR /> <BR />We have a long-drawn-out history in this place, and it is a fact that the majority of people who work in ANCs are of a nationalist persuasion, but farmers across the board would benefit from the payment. As somebody who was reared on a sheep farm, in a house with a strong non-sectarian ethos, I say that farmers work with one another regardless of religion, background, political outlook, constitutional ideas or anything else: that does not come into the equation.”
“However, rural poverty is often hidden in plain sight, is not acknowledged and does not receive the attention that it deserves. There are probably a number of reasons for that, but I contend that one of those is that, an awful lot of the time, our rural populations, particularly our farming families from the uplands, put their heads down, get on with things and suffer in silence. They should not be punished for doing that; they should be supported. There is no doubt that there is hardship in our rural areas, and our hill farmers certainly know hardship. I know that at first hand, because, as I have said repeatedly, I was reared on a sheep farm on the hills. <BR /> <BR />In recent times, we have had a number of agriculture debates in the Chamber in which we have heard DUP Members talk about farmers being custodians of the countryside.”
“I take some of that personally, being a farmer's daughter who has seen at first hand how hard those people work. <BR /> <BR />At the very heart of the Bill is a concern about equality, so the remarks that were made about pitting one group of farmers against another were very unhelpful. I doubt that we would hear such a description were we to argue that any other disadvantaged group in society should receive support. You have to acknowledge that upland farmers battle the worst of all conditions: on the hills, there is a tougher climate, a shorter season and worse ground. As a result, farming there is more difficult. <BR /> <BR />We talk a lot about deprivation and poverty in the North. We often look at that through an urban, or city, lens. There is no denying that some of our towns and cities see huge rates of deprivation.”