Sian Mulholland
North Antrim · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Members from different parties recognised that our justice system must continue to evolve and continue to have children, young people and victims at its heart. What, we know, works to reduce offending and create safer communities has that support. <BR /> <BR />Not every contribution reflected that approach.”
“I will use my final Member's statement before recess to reflect on the work of the Ten is Too Young Coalition and all those who have worked so passionately to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR), including Voice of Young People in Care, the Children's Law Centre, NIACRO, the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Childre…”
“We so often hear calls in the Chamber for legislation that is evidence-led, data-driven and compliant with our human rights obligations. Those are principles that I wholeheartedly support, but they cannot be principles that are applied only when they are convenient. Children's rights are human rights too.”
“<BR /> <BR />The triggering of the petition of concern mechanism was a misuse of a mechanism that was designed to protect minority rights. Here it is, blocking change designed to protect those who are most vulnerable.”
“Safeguarding falls within your remit, Minister. We know that, but we also know that it is the responsibility of each and every one of us. That is part of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. Faith-based counselling is not subject to the same regulation as other clinical counselling services.”
“Thank you, Minister. I am glad to hear you say that the role played by social workers is "complex and challenging". From what I hear from those who have contacted me, social workers are stretched to capacity. What is the Department doing to address that?”
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“In 2025, just 17 grassroots music venues hosted over 22,000 performances across more than 3,700 events, attracting 460,000 visitors. That is an extraordinary amount of activity for such a small number of venues, and it translated into an £11·85 million contribution to our economy. <BR /> <BR />Behind those headline figures, however, lies a far more fragile reality. Only half those venues made a profit. Employment in the sector has dropped sharply, down 21% in just one year. Perhaps most striking of all, live music is now operating at a loss, with venues subsidising performances to the tune of £1·63 million simply to keep music on their stages. That means that, although cultural output is thriving, the business model that underpins live music is under severe strain.”
“I welcome the publication of the Music Venue Trust annual report for 2025, which gives us, for the first time, a detailed and sobering picture of the state of grassroots music venues in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />We should be immensely proud of the sector. For a population of just under two million people, we have produced globally recognised artists across multiple generations. Every one of those artists started out somewhere, however. They started out in small local venues, learning their craft, building their confidence and connecting with audiences. Such venues are not just cultural spaces. As someone who volunteered for a decade before being employed by one such music venue, I know that they are economic contributors, community hubs and pipelines for future success.”
“<BR /> <BR />I commend the motion to the House, and I thank my colleagues on the Economy Committee and the Infrastructure Committee and my colleague Kellie Armstrong on the Communities Committee. This issue goes right across all those Departments. It is not just a solo issue for the Economy Minister: I recognise that. If we all work together, we can find a way forward that is more socially just.”
“<BR /> <BR />That requires urgent and transparent delivery from the Department for Communities. Therefore, we want to hear what the Minister for Communities is able and prepared to do. Short-term support is not enough on its own. People are not asking for anything unreasonable. The crux of the motion is that we are asking to live in warm, safe homes, and the socially just way to do that is through renewable energy. If we move forward on energy and security, tackling fuel poverty comes along with that. No household should be colder because it is in a rural community or under more pressure because it does not have as much money in the bank to buy a larger quantity of a fossil fuel.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />Absolutely; I agree with you, Kellie. I see it in my own town and right across North Antrim. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the Sinn Féin amendment and the immediate support announced. I welcome the fact that £17 million has been allocated to Northern Ireland. We will support measures that ensure that the money reaches those who need it most. We have to be honest, though: it is not a huge pot of money when we look at what we face. If that funding is spread too thinly, it will make absolutely no difference whatsoever. It has to be targeted at those who are most at risk, so we are talking about low-income households, families with children, older people and those with disabilities. Those are the households that will feel this more keenly.”
“That is essential, if we are serious about protecting our constituents.”
“That is why we have been pushing the Communities Minister on the retrofitting programme for social housing and also to extend that and understand how retrofitting can alleviate some of that pressure. <BR /> <BR />The key point is that the dependence on imported fossil fuels that drives energy insecurity is also what drives fuel poverty. That directly links to comments made earlier in the debate. As long as we remain exposed to those volatile global markets, households will have to pay the price. That is why greater renewable energy is not just a climate issue: for me, it is also a poverty issue. It is the clearest pathway to a more stable and socially just society. <BR /> <BR />We need to see a strengthening of our grid: that is accepted. We need an improvement in our connectivity, including North/South and east-west infrastructure.”
“They get small amounts of oil more regularly, so they are feeling it more and more. They are being pushed into making those more expensive, smaller purchases, and that is the poverty premium in action. We see it in our most deprived areas. <BR /> <BR />At the same time, rural housing is more likely to be older, less energy efficient and harder to heat. When prices rise, people and households are not only hit with paying more for fuel; they are hit twice because they need more of it just to stay warm. We know the consequences: cold, damp homes damage physical and mental health. We see the pressure that that places on our health service and in excess winter deaths.”
“In fact, the Consumer Council said this week that the Causeway Coast and Glens area had the highest oil price in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland remains heavily reliant on heating oil, especially in rural areas. In parts of my constituency, there is a very low level of renewables or gas or alternatives to oil, and that is not something that we would be seen to be cheerleading or fighting for just because we are fighting for extra support. It leaves households directly exposed, as others have said, to global price shocks, and without protection. There is no price cap, no social tariff and no meaningful safety net in how that market operates. People are expected to pay up front. As spokesperson for poverty for my party, I hear daily that the people who are hit hardest are those who cannot afford to fill their tank.”
“I have been accused of many things in this place, but pushing a "chimneyless" agenda is a new one. <BR /> <BR />I thank my Alliance colleagues for bringing the motion to the House. It is an important issue at the best of times but, with the rise in global instability at the minute, it is more urgent than ever. I will focus a wee bit on the fuel poverty aspect and what is happening in homes across Northern Ireland. Households were already struggling. We already had a really high level of fuel poverty. Families were being pushed much deeper into poverty than they had ever been before. For many, that pressure is longer-lasting and hitting harder. We know that that is being felt more acutely in rural constituencies such as my own, where oil prices are among the highest.”
“There is a big difference between asking for support for people who are heavily reliant on something that we do not want to see continue and needing to move away from it. It is a bit disingenuous to say that we have changed our position and are supporting oil just because we are asking for help right now.”
“Thank you for your statement, Minister. Given that your Department has not yet opened the public consultation on the culture, arts and heritage strategy, how can you explain the substantial funding that has already been allocated to US250 — one single heritage and culture initiative stream — when the public has not had the opportunity to give its views or shape the overarching policy that should guide such spending? How will that impact on our culture and heritage organisations and sectors here in Northern Ireland?”
“I thank the Minister. Last week, in Committee, we heard from all 11 councils about the anti-poverty strategy. They told us how important place-based interventions are in tackling poverty. Will he outline what further engagement councils will have? What part will they play in the next stage of the development of the anti-poverty strategy?”
“I apologise for not being in my place yesterday, Mr Speaker.”
“Thank you, Minister. Clearly, there is so much to talk about that you ran out of time. Can you give me a wee bit more detail on the rape myths campaign that you referenced?”
“Today, Alliance welcomes the necessary correction. However, tomorrow, in the next mandate and in any future Programme for Government, poverty has to sit at the heart of our decision-making.”
“However, if we are complacent and treat this as the end of the conversation, we will stagnate. Stagnation in poverty terms, to be very clear, means yet more children growing up without opportunity. Removing the two-child limit is significant, and we welcome it. We have campaigned for it for long enough, but it is not the North Star. It is not on its own the structural reform that will break the cycle. If we are really serious about tackling poverty, particularly child poverty, it has to become the North Star of any future Programme for Government. The anti-poverty strategy has to be the foundation of that ambition, and that means every single departmental budget decision being tested against poverty impact and every Department contributing to poverty reduction with clear targets, clear accountability and independent monitoring.”
“The Law Centre Northern Ireland and Advice NI have warned about the unintended consequences and the erosion of transitional protection over time. If families now are not clearly informed, they may miss out. Given the transitional arrangements, some could face unexpected losses, giving with one hand and taking with the other, as I have said in the Chamber before. If implementation of this is rushed or under-resourced and miscommunicated, confusion and uncertainty could undermine the purpose of the reform, so we have to get the detail right. <BR /> <BR />Overall, if we want poverty to fall at pace and at scale, as the Minister has said, the ambition of our Executive has to be to match the scale of the challenge. Removing the two-child limit is an important legislative correction; let us not underplay that.”
“This intervention really could not come soon enough. In-work poverty has to be central to the conversation. We heard at the Committee last week from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that too many families are working full-time and yet still cannot reach the end of the month in a financially good place. We know that childcare costs shape whether parents — particularly women, let us just say — can work. Insecure and low-paid work drives instability. <BR /> <BR />During engagement on the LCM, stakeholders rightly raised with us implementation concerns around communication with claimants, the interaction with welfare mitigations and particularly the treatment of those in transitional protection, as Mr Durkan outlined.”
“As we now know from the mountains of evidence, it embedded child poverty even deeper in our society. <BR /> <BR />The LCM begins to correct that profound injustice, but it is a correction, not a cure. We in the Chamber cannot relax at this point. Child poverty in Northern Ireland remains far too high. Around one in four to one in three children here are living in relative poverty after housing costs. The two-child limit has been one of the drivers of hardship — this deep, long-lasting poverty — and removing it has the potential to lift thousands of children out of poverty, as we have heard, or, at the very least, reduce the depth of poverty that they experience. However, we are still in a time when food bank usage remains at its highest. We are seeing families absolutely stretched to breaking point by the cost of living.”
“I welcome the opportunity to finally stand here in the Chamber in support of the legislative consent motion on the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill. Like others, I want to be absolutely clear about what the two-child limit represented. It was a policy choice made at Westminster that told families that not every child mattered the same and that some children were worth less than their siblings purely because of their birth order. It was a deliberate decision to withdraw support from children, particularly in the most vulnerable of families. It ignored the reality of family life, particularly here in Northern Ireland, and it ignored the fact that relationships break down, bereavement happens, illness strikes, employment is insecure and circumstances change.”
“Thank you, Minister, for confirming that. I am greatly worried by the fact that we are giving with one hand and taking with the other with the transitional protection and the removal of the two-child limit. Can the Minister confirm whether his Department has modelled how many families will likely face a deficit when this comes into play?”
“I will not. I do not have much to get through. <BR /> <BR />For example, would it mean that proceeds from any non-sporting event held in any of the football grounds across the country that receive funding from the Department for Communities through the NI Football Fund (NIFF) should also be clawed back? Public finance rules must be fair, consistent and non-selective.”
“I will keep my remarks brief. Alliance supports the redevelopment of Casement Park and believes that it should be delivered as part of the original regional stadia commitment. <BR /> <BR />We will not support the motion. We believe that it singles out one sporting code in a way that risks deepening division and being perceived as a dog whistle. If Members believe that there should be clawback mechanisms attached to publicly funded stadia or, indeed, any publicly funded capital assets, we believe that that principle should be applied across the board to all arenas and all sports, not to one stadium alone.”
“Thank you, Minister, for coming to the House with the update. Can you give some further information about whether discussions were had about a successor to the PEACE PLUS programme and whether there is a timeline for when such a successor programme will be in place?”
“We continue to stand with the Mitchell family as they fight for justice.”
“That meant an awful lot, and it shows that we are stronger when we work together and realise that politics does not have to be the defining thing that we talk about: humanity can shine through. The family also want to put on record their thanks to Inspector Jock McToal for going above and beyond in what he did to support the family. I thank Jock for the support that he has shown to me in his role as well. <BR /> <BR />Georgina Mitchell told the Justice Minister and me that every day that her daughter's trial was delayed, she felt that she was failing Chloe — that she was failing her daughter. I say this directly to Georgina: every day since Chloe passed, you have done nothing but fight for Chloe, as you will on every day ahead. You should be incredibly proud of yourself, because there is no way that you have failed your daughter.”
“That shines through in every statement that the family have made and in every meeting that I have had with them. Let her legacy be that other families get their day in court. I welcome the continued contributions by the Justice Minister and the CBA to allow that to happen. I pay tribute to the family — Jordy and Georgina and Chloe's brother and sisters. Their strength and dignity through what they have faced has been unbelievable. No other family should have to walk the path that they have had to walk, and no other family should have to fight for justice in the way that they did. <BR /> <BR />The family want me to put on record their thanks to all who supported their fight for an exemption to the strike action. I thank my fellow MLAs and the MP for North Antrim, who agreed to send the joint letter and meet the CBA on the family's behalf.”
“I, too, will speak about Chloe. I have just come from the court, where I was with her family. A court date has been set — 9 March — and the relief is absolutely palpable. Setting a trial date is important, and I recognise that today is an incredibly emotional day for the family. I told them that I would speak about Chloe in the Chamber so that her name would be on the record. <BR /> <BR />Chloe was loved and cherished. She adored make-up and clothes. I have seen her bedroom, including the make-up and the wardrobe. Her hair was her pride and joy. She loved her family and especially loved her role as an auntie. She needs to be remembered for who she was, not for how she died. Chloe was the baby of the house and was absolutely adored.”
“That has to stop because it does not serve anybody. <BR /> <BR />Ultimately, the debate is about whether our standards framework has practical authority or symbolic value alone. For me, a system that identifies failures but cannot respond to them is not fair or consistent, and it does not provide and protect integrity. All it does is expose its own vulnerability. Supporting the motion is not about political point-scoring and it is not about punishment: it is about reaffirming the fact that we need a politics of empathy that is clear, compassionate and unequivocal in coming out straight away and standing with those who are most impacted.”
“<BR /> <BR />When accountability fails again and again, it exposes the current shape of our institutions. Yes, they were set up at a time when we were greatly divided. The overriding priority, post Good Friday Agreement, was managing division, but I hope that we have moved on as a society and as a Chamber. However, all too often in this place, compassion is misread for weakness or niceness or not being strong enough. People are told to get a thicker skin. Do you know what? There are plenty of us who do not want to have to have a thicker skin to be in politics. People out there want the politics of empathy. They want to see their representatives in this Chamber representing their best interests. They want to see that people care, but so often in this place empathy is sacrificed for sound bites and playing to the crowd.”
“Again, that is not political opportunism or me point-scoring: those are the words of someone who was deeply impacted by the events on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Ballymena and Larne. They are still feeling the impacts. They are still frightened to walk down the street because of the colour of their skin or because of their perceived nature. That still goes on. That is still reverberating through the town. Those people are genuinely frightened that it will happen all over again and that all it will take is a match to relight it. That is where the fear was on the Wednesday when that post went out. The Minister said, "I was not consulted". I asked at the time whether, had the Minister been consulted, there would have been a different response. That question was not answered.”
“<BR /> <BR />When I support the motion, for me, it is not about a Minister or a Department. It is about the politics of empathy and the politics of compassion. Regardless of the intent, I do not think that the intent of the Minister — I have talked to him about it — was to create any more tension. I hope that it was not. I really do. However, the lasting impact of what happened will be from how it was read and perceived by people. I use the words of a young Filipino man, whom I met on the Friday with the UK's ambassador to the Philippines:”
“I think — I hope — that most people in the Chamber know that there is nothing in what we did and in what we tried to do at that time that was politically motivated. <BR /> <BR />At the heart of this were five women, four men and six children aged between one and 14. Those children, once we were able to get them out of their house, were vomiting on the floor of the police station at 2.00 am. A meeting was then set up to try to take them to wherever they would be safe. Ballymena leisure centre was ruled out as it was too close, so Mid and East Antrim Borough Council went to its nearest council provision, and that is where they were sent. At 4.00 am, that is where they were given shelter, with police offering the children yoghurts from their own lunchboxes to try to settle them. That was the reality and the human element of the situation.”
“I had a speech ready about the lack of ability for us to hold Ministers to account, but I received a text asking me to humanise the crux of the issue as it was for those who were involved in the events in Ballymena. <BR /> <BR />I have heard the terms "political opportunism", "political point-scoring" and "politically motivated" being mentioned in the Chamber already. I can honestly, hand on heart, say that there is not one bit of me that is politically motivated when I talk about this, because, on the night of the Ballymena riots, I talked on the phone to people who were terrified. I received videos of children in attics and a text message that said, "If they set fire to this house, Sian, the people in the attic will die". That is the reality of what we faced on the Monday and Tuesday night. That is not politically motivated for me.”
“Thank you, Minister. Part of what I wanted to ask was about the funding for Irish language groups through the medium of the arts, which Mrs Mason talked about. Foras na Gaeilge initially said that some of its youth festival schemes across the island of Ireland were at risk because of the funding formula. That was this time last year. What has changed, and is there any way forward or hope that you can see for youth arts projects that are conducted through the medium of the Irish language?”
“I will not lie: at the moment, I would rather that, if there is money in the budget, it be spent on our grassroots sporting clubs and codes to ensure that we have the sporting stars of the future, if we have to make that choice. I think that a working group that could look at how we can utilise that, how we can think differently and how we can be creative in how we celebrate our sport would be good, but sport is not separate from the challenges that our communities face. I really recognise the value of celebrating who we are and what we have achieved together as one community. Thank you very much for tabling the motion.”
“It allows the key stakeholders to explore feasibility and appetite, particularly in the climate that we are in. I think that having a working group would also allow us to look at how we can be smarter with public funds while trying to ensure that the spotlight stays on our local sporting heroes. That would include looking at the use of existing museum spaces and government-owned buildings. We saw in Ballymoney how great it was to utilise existing space. I will say that a non-Belfast-centric approach should be taken, hence why I started with my list of why North Antrim is one of the most wonderful constituencies in Northern Ireland for sport.”
“Too often, success is fleetingly celebrated and then quietly archived, but a sports museum could offer something different: a shared space for recognition, learning and inspiration, particularly for young people who may never see themselves reflected in sport because of their background. <BR /> <BR />The motion, rightly, highlights the potential economic benefits, particularly through tourism. We all know somewhere that could benefit from a sports heritage attraction. However, as a member of the Communities Committee, I want to be realistic. We are having this debate at a time when many communities are under real pressure, families are feeling poorer and public services are stretched. People are worried about health, education and the cost of living. The call for a working group therefore makes sense to me.”
“This story is not just about North Antrim, as much as I would love to stand here and just list the sporting achievements of the constituency. It is about Northern Irish and Irish individual athletes and Paralympians and team sports played in our towns, villages and cities. From grassroots clubs to the highest levels of elite international competition, sport has been a shared source of pride and possibility. Any sports museum must reflect that. It should never elevate one sport or one community over another but recognise the full breadth of sporting excellence across codes, genders and backgrounds and ensure that those stories, particularly at the grassroots level, are not lost.”
“She is very much a North Antrim product who delivered Olympic and Commonwealth gold. Jack McMillan has represented his country at two Olympic Games and has won one Commonwealth silver medal. <BR /> <BR />In football and rugby, we have Gareth McAuley, who captained Northern Ireland on the international stage, while Ballymena United FC and Ballymena RFC have competed and succeeded at the highest domestic and all-Ireland levels. It would be remiss of me not to mention that North Antrim is also a powerhouse of club hurling, with Dunloy Cuchullains. Loughgiel Shamrocks, Ballycastle Mc Quillans and my own Carey Faughs winning a mix of Antrim, Ulster and all-Ireland honours. In boxing, we have Neil Sinclair, who brought Commonwealth medal success home to Ballymoney.”
“I am not happy to go after "Mr Local Football" when talking about sporting issues. Given its Olympic and Commonwealth medals, its all-Ireland club titles and world-beating motor sport success, I will focus a little on my constituency of North Antrim, which has produced excellence across individual and team sports and across generations and communities. In motor sport, we have the Dunlop dynasty of Joey, Robert and Michael from Ballymoney, who collectively redefined global road racing. We saw the success of the event in Ballymoney to mark the anniversary of Joey's death, with memorabilia being placed in Ballymoney town hall. <BR /> <BR />South Belfast may try to claim her, but our wonderful Dame Mary Peters first moved to Ballymena when she came to Northern Ireland.”
“Let us be clear that only one Member of the House has been found to be in breach of a number of rules in our code of conduct. To agree that we can involve ourselves in robust challenge without the desire to derail business and certainly without the toxicity and the personalising is fundamentally what this is all about.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It is totally in order to challenge public policy — that is our job — in a fair and courteous manner, but it is not in order to engage in excessive personal attacks and improper interference with the workings of the institutions and to undermine a fellow Member's integrity intentionally. If we enable conduct that is designed to attack people excessively, interfere with proceedings and undermine one another's integrity, we will find ourselves with a weakened democratic process in which fewer people, particularly women, will be willing to take part. We should all reflect on that. <BR /> <BR />Finally, we can see that, of course, the standard deflection process has begun. I hope, however, that we can focus on the issues that are before us today.”
“That represents a complete independent vindication of the Chair's actions, as well as raising a serious issue about the conduct of the Member. <BR /> <BR />The report continues that the Member chose not to recognise that the Chair was upholding established norms and protocols of scrutiny and thus impeded Committee business. That conduct was "persistent" and "repetitive", contributing to a public perception of disorder. When we hear that the Committee looked as though it had got into a fray, that is why. Let us be clear: contrary to much of the commentary before the media embargo, the issue goes well beyond a single remark to a pattern of behaviour designed, frankly, to bully a Committee Chair. It is totally in order to engage —.”
“I am trying to get through this. Apologies. You will have your 10 minutes. <BR /> <BR />— by the Chair to guide him back to the scope of the work. <BR /> <BR />Here lies perhaps the most important point of all. The report notes:”
“under rule 13. Therefore, the Member's conduct was found independently to have breached two rules identified in the complaint. Notably, the commissioner even found that a further rule — rule 10 — had also been engaged and breached. It was noted that, at one meeting, the Member asked nine questions outside the remit of the Committee, despite attempts —”
“I have a lot to get through. I will come back to you as well, if I have time. <BR /> <BR />Most damning, in my view, is that the comment in question was used as "mechanisms to silence". There are many people in the Chamber, notably women, who have experienced that. <BR /> <BR />The independent report further found that the Member repeatedly failed to respect the authority of the Chair and engaged in:”
“I have a lot to get through. I will come back to you.”
“Given that the report identifies the broader cultural issue in which a woman's arguments are trivialised by framing them as emotional outbursts, perhaps it is about time that we all in the Chamber recognise those micro-aggressions for what they are.”