YouSaid · the spoken record

Arlene Foster

lines on the record: 40
first: 2020-06-05
most recent: 2020-06-05
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It's almost impossible to pick a single piece of music because my music goodness, it's such an eclectic mix. I listen to everything from Vivaldi's four seasons to take that in the backstreet boys. So, I mean, it is quite a mix there. But goodness, if I was really pushed at this moment in time, probably it will be different tomorrow. It would be Backstreet Boys drowning, which is one of their hits. And yeah, one I can sing along to, but I'm not going to at this moment in time.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh gosh, I don't know because of course the singing bit is the problem, I'm told, because when everybody is singing, then they're obviously being able to put out there what may be a spread of the virus. So we have to be very careful about all of that. But I hope that we're in a position at the end of the summer where things are moving in the right direction and that we're coming out, I suppose, the worry then is and the worry for us all is a threat of a second wave of the pandemic and that will be devastating if we don't manage that because of course the economy is the main concern there.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Look, I have always said that we trust ourselves and we have to build up what's right for Northern Ireland. As I say, I like bars. I get in very well with Boris, but we have to make sure that we protect the people of Northern Ireland at all times.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I do believe Boris is a unionist, yes. I do. You're listening to everyone. I remember holding a microphone when you He said we're going to have a border.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In the past, the Republic of Ireland was a gainer of being part of the European Union. They were always getting money for roads and all of those sorts of things that has brought the Republic up to be, as you say, a modern democratic state. I have to say they are now net contributors to the European Union and that will have an impact in relation to the Republic of Ireland. But look, we have a very good relationship with our neighbours later on this afternoon. I will speak to the Taoiseach about how he's dealing with COVID-19, how he's coming out of COVID-19. I think that that is a mature way to be. That certainly wasn't the case always. And if we can respect each other and continue to work together on matters of mutual concern, I think that that is what we should be doing.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think that when if we were to have the same sort of discussion as Scotland had a couple of years ago, I think that people would very much recognise that Northern Ireland is much stronger within the United Kingdom than within a Republic of Ireland, which is still wedded to the European Union system after this crisis.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Most people recognize the greater number of people here recognise the benefits that we get from being in the UK. I'm a strong constitutional unionist, but I recognise for others, it's more of a transactional piece around the economy. And I want to make sure that we do build a strong union for everybody living in Northern Ireland. So it doesn't matter who you are or where you live in Northern Ireland, you can see the benefits of being in the UK.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Let me say this about Theresa May first of all. I had many disagreements with Theresa May over the implementation of what was going on around Brexit, but I never for one minute doubted that she was a unionist. She was very clear about that right from the first day that she became Prime Minister. And I always respected that about her. And I hope that others recognize that as well. But in terms of growing up, and we talked a little bit about growing up in Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s, every day we were talking about the constitutional position of Northern Ireland when I was growing up. We don't do that anymore. We certainly didn't do it during the years 2007 to 2016 when we had devolution because we were focused on doing what was right for Northern Ireland. And that was within the United Kingdom. And I hope we can get back to that space again now that we have devolution back and we can focus on what's right for the people of Northern Ireland.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well it is for the UK government to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol so if they're true to what they're saying currently in relation to the protocol then that should stay in place. But I am concerned about the fact that the negotiations don't appear to be going particularly well. We need to make sure that both sides understand that it's to both sides' benefits and that's something I think that the European Union often didn't get in the negotiations from 2016 onwards. And for both our sakes, I hope that we do get to a situation where we get a deal because that's what we need in Northern Ireland.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We never did, Nick, to be fair. I have a very good relationship with Boris. I like Boris, but we have to make sure that we protect Northern Ireland. And he knows that. And my primary reason for being in politics is to make sure that we...”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In terms of what It will, in terms of the Northern Ireland to Great Britain, peace, that's true. There's the unfettered access has very much been stated again in the command paper. I suppose the concern and where we're focused on is the transport of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland because the whole issue is about the risk of those goods going into the Republic of Ireland and into the single market. We would say that that's a very minimal risk when you look at the size of the single market of the European Union. So it's very important that we continue to work with the UK government and making sure those are minimal checks. Because, of course, we've had checks for many years in terms of live animals, Nick, and you will know that they're called SPS checks to make sure that there's no disease coming into the island of Ireland. And those will continue, but we need to make sure that the rest of the administrative checks are kept to a minimum.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, let me say this. I mean, there's no way we were going to be able to put our hand to anything that, so that's the first thing we couldn't be a part of that. Of course, we were disappointed that the Prime Minister and Parliament decided to go in a different way to get Brexit done and to have the Northern Ireland Protocol. But my job now is to try and minimise the impact of that in terms of what's happening. I do welcome the latest command paper from the UK government where they say, look, we are in the customs territory of the United Kingdom. There'll be no tariffs, there'll be no customs infrastructure, we'll be able to take part in free trade deals. But at the same time, well, the SPS...”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the legacy of confidence and supply is much wider than even you have described it. What we looked at were UK-wide issues such as the triple lock in pensions, such as making sure that there were enough defence spending. Those things very rarely get talked about when we talk about confidence and supply because the focus is very much on money for Northern Ireland. And of course, the deal was much wider than that. But we couldn't sign up to something that was going to damage Northern Ireland, either constitutionally or economically. And that's where the whole issue came in relation to Brexit. I mean, I was in favour of Brexit.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's a combination. It's certainly the population density plays a part. Certainly the fact that in terms of the COVID-19 spread of the disease, London was hit first and then it spread across the rest of the UK. So we were a little bit behind in terms of the transmission of the disease. So when we went into lockdown, it was earlier in terms of the spread of the disease. And then we have taken slightly different moves in terms of coming out of lockdown to see how we can move forward but at the same time working very closely with the other administrations. And again, we have worked very closely with Scotland, with Wales in terms of devolved administrations and indeed I've had more conversation with Whitehall ministers over the whole COVID-19 than even I had overconfidence in supply Nick. So I mean it has worked very, very well.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then you wonder why things are different in London and in Northern Ireland in terms of COVID-19. And obviously population density is one of those things.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, you know, the devolved settlement gives powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly in specific areas, and then it reserves areas for Westminster. So defence is a reserve matter. The Treasury is a reserve matter. But then we have been devolved issues that we can debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly and take our own view on. And I think that that's what the evolution is about. And you've seen that during the COVID-19 crisis as well. You've seen us all come together as four nations and plot away forward. Look at how we can strengthen our NHS, the four health ministers working very closely together on PPE. But at the same time, because we are geographically different, we may have different ways of coming out of COVID-19. So you think about the fact that where I live in County Fermana, we have a population density of 36 people per square kilometre. And then you go to London, and it's nearly 5,000 people per square kilometre.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of either the person was really in favour of it or really, really against it, and then it ended up being a discussion. And I felt that particularly in England it became a very divisive issue. And as someone who came from a divided society, I probably could identify with it more than most.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think Brexit was an incredibly divisive issue. I mean, I think points, the actual realism that referenda never really, they're not something that build consensus. Let us be very clear. I mean, you have to take it's either a black or white situation. It's very difficult then to find common ground in that sort of a scenario. And my goodness, the period after the 2016 referendum has been a period of great division. I was shocked actually, Nick, I want to say, I used to go to London and get into a taxi and people would chat, oh, you're from Northern Ireland or sometimes you're from Ireland and worry about you from and I haven't been or I have been. It became very much a Brexit discussion then every time I got into a cab in London and it was very difficult.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Stay in the same country as. Yeah, well, that's true, but it does rankle. But, you know, we live in a free country, we live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech. And if people want to think those things about us, most of the people I have to say, who think those things about us haven't had a conversation with any of us and don't actually know what our backgrounds are and what we actually believe in.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, look, I mean, we're all products of our childhood and how we were brought up and what happened to us when we were being brought up. But I think the challenge then is, and I hear all of those characterizations of the DUP as extreme and hardline, and you will recall when we entered the Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Conservative Party back in 2017, all sort of cartoons and characterizations of us. Personally, I don't see myself in that way. I see myself as a strong constitutional unionist, absolutely. But I do always strive and I have to in a mandatory coalition all of the time to find the common ground between ourselves and other political parties in Northern Ireland so that we can.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I was always very interested, and I think probably my interest in politics and what was going on in Northern Ireland, who can probably not say that it was probably triggered by the fact that my father had been a victim of terrorism. And then when I was at school, I was always very much a history student, loved history, loved learning about the past. It will interest you to know that in my A-level history, the subject matter was Wolf Tone, that great Irish Republican leader of 1798. So, I mean, I've always taken a big interest in history, and I would always have said that the teacher that had the most impact upon me was my history teacher. So, yeah, I think all things combined, all of those things combined, I think, made me then interested in politics when I went up to Queen's University in Belfast.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, I've been asked that many times why did I get involved in politics particularly as a young woman who was going forward and taking law at university? Why would I get involved in politics, particularly at that time? I was quite vicious still in the late 1980s, early 1990s. I'm very male dominated. There's no doubt about that, particularly in unionism. And there's always been that challenge of getting more women to step forward and to get involved in politics.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I was sitting beside the window on that occasion, so she was sitting on the aisle and the blast came down the aisle of the bus and therefore hit her very badly on her arm and she was very seriously injured, was in hospital for quite a while. And yes, it could have been me. So there was some guilt there as well and having to deal with all of that. But look, again, so thankful that no one was killed and that we all survived. But it did take its toll on a number of us. It was a terrible can you imagine anything worse than setting a bomb under Skullabos? It was just horrific.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, that was back in 1987 when 1988, sorry, just shortly after what I'm sure many of your listeners will remember, the Innoskill and Bomb took place. In June of the year after that, my bus driver, who was a part-time member of the Austral Defence Regiment, he looked under the bus and as he always did and then went to collect the schoolchildren. I was collected a number of others were collected. And then a bomb exploded underneath the bus and there were about 15, 20 children on the bus at the time and the bus driver. He was injured. The girl sitting beside me was very severely injured. That had an impact on me because we always used to have a discussion. I'm using the word discussion. It wasn't really a discussion about who would say. The window on the way to school and then have the opportunity to go to sleep.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The sense of injustice and the desired protest, of course, the desired protest makes everything so much more difficult given where we are with COVID-19 and the fact that mass gatherings are actually not allowed under the COVID regulation. So we've been trying to encourage those who want to protest in solidarity and in support of George Floyd to find other ways of protesting, whether that's digitally or through standing in their gardens collectively in the fashion that we did for Clap for Carers and things like that so that they can find other ways to protest. But absolutely, I mean, I understand that fully.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, they could have, and he was hitting the head, but we were told that if it had been hit about half an inch in another direction, he would have been dead. And so we were very, very fortunate and we give thanks that he survived, as I say, to live to the age of 81 and for us to have him for that period of time was great.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, yeah, very, very, very strong. Very strong memories well. No, look, I think, Nick, I've been very fortunate. I have been very fortunate. My father lived for another 32 years after that. He died at the age of 81. And there are many, many people in Northern Ireland who did not have their father growing up, so I'm very fortunate that he survived and was able to live to the age of 81.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“arrived to try and assist us, but that was a very dramatic traumatic event in my life and it was a month or so, nearly no two months then before we moved to Lysen Ski and at that time it was very scary for a young child to have to live in that sort of an environment and I always remember going to bed at night and pulling the duvet over the top of my head as if that was going to protect me from anybody that was going to come but it's funny the memories that you have of that time but thankfully as I say we're still”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was eight and a half. My brother was four. He was the youngest. I remembered clearly because it was such a big moment in my life because my father had gone out to close in a few animals that we had, the cows and the bar and the next moment we heard rapid gunfire. Of course I didn't know it was rapid gunfire at that time. My mother was sitting at the kitchen table. I just remember her face. She completely froze at that time. And then my father came crawling in on all fours. He'd obviously fallen to the ground when he was shot and crawled in and we all were ushered up to our parents' bedroom because given that he was a police officer, he had flares to alert others that he was under attack. Put the flares off. And then in what felt like an eternity but was in actual fact only about seven or eight minutes security force.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, yeah. So very different from your child. Yeah, it is a beautiful place. But as a result of that, we were advised that we should move away from our home, which was a farm, and move to, in quotes, safer place. So we moved to a town called Lisson Ski, which was about 10 miles away from where we were living, but was much more than that because you were moving from a very rural community into a town situation, and that was a huge challenge for the family at that time.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, absolutely. And I mean, I think we have all in Northern Ireland come on a journey. We haven't the sort of headlines that I grew up with now on the news, thankfully, of people being murdered and killed and bombs. Thankfully, that is a thing of the past. Obviously, we still have to deal with some dissidents that are around us and help the police to have the resources to do that. But we have thankfully left that behind, and I'm very grateful that my children grow up in a Northern Ireland that is very much at peace with itself. And before this awful COVID disaster was beginning to become a good, solid, open regional economy with our tourism booming. And we have to get back to that place. So very different from you.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Inevitably, I think that's right, because you're dealing with matters of life and death and then you're dealing in your own family life with issues as well. Neither of our mothers thankfully had COVID-19, but both were admitted in and around the same time bizarrely. And so as well as dealing with everything that we have to deal with in government, we have to deal with the pressure of our mothers being in hospital as well. So inevitably that does mean that you see humanity because you're saying, how is your mother? How's things going? She's saying the same to me. So that of course brings out the humanity in both of us.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“all to a place where we have to work together for the common good and we have to take decisions that will mean that the people of Northern Ireland are in a better place and I'm pleased to say in terms of the number of deaths in Northern Ireland we have managed to keep them as low as we possibly could and that has worked well.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well, I think for your listeners it's important to understand the system of government in Northern Ireland. What we have is a mandatory coalition. So we go to an election and then it's how many people you get into the executive of Northern Ireland depends on the number of votes you have. So we actually have five parties in our executive. So we have a five party coalition and you will know from coalitions on the mainland how difficult it is to govern in those circumstances. And when you have a coalition with people who you fundamentally disagreed with on matters of political philosophy and how to govern, it is a real challenge. And when we came back into government on the 11th of January, we knew there would be many, many challenges ahead and working through the difficulties, trying to find common ground, but none of us thought that we would be dealing with what we've had to deal with over this past couple of months. And I think it has actually pushed us.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think when we came into this crisis, and I think our first case was on the twenty seventh of February of this year, and we had been up until then getting updates from our health minister about what was going on, and then it started to build. And then there's the realization when you hear about the reasonable worst case scenario that so many thousands of people are going to die. And it really is at that moment, you think, my goodness, we are going to have to take some of the most draconian steps that have ever been taken in this country, probably since World War II. And it's a huge responsibility. So of course we have those moments. I have those moments when you think about are you doing the right thing? And we do lean heavily. And I know there's been a lot of talk about, you know, being led by the science and all of that, but we do lean heavily on our medical advisors at this time and then try to take the decisions based on what they tell us.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't think anybody's about to book me anytime soon to sing at their wedding. But no, we did. We did. We allowed because it's such a big thing, obviously, if people have planned their weddings. And I'm 25 years married this year. And I remember the whole build up to the wedding and to be told then that you can't do it. It must be devastating.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“From a distance, you know, the Bat Middler saw. I think I sang that at a wedding. I can't remember the other one, but it's... Well, you've got the chance again.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People have been singing along Wedding singer, is this true? Oh, that's a long time ago, Nick. That's a long time ago. I sang at the wedding of a couple of my friends. When I was young, when I was young, not since I was a hint, what sort of things did you sing? I think, do you know what? I think it was...”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Or a him, maybe Oh yeah, it'll have to be a hymn. I've never found myself listening to, we have in BBC Radio Ulster a program on a Sunday afternoon called Sound Sacred. And what I tend to do is listen to it on my headphones and sing along. It's pretty sad, I know, but at least it allows me to engage in some sort of singing.”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh gracious, there's a lot of things I've been missing, obviously missing my hairdresser. And missing church, I have to say, singing in particular, and I know that may sound a little strange, but I love congregational singing, so I've missed that on a Sunday morning. I think there's a lot of things that we've taken for granted over the years, the freedoms that we have, and when we're told that we can't do them, all of a sudden they become incredibly important to us. But yeah, it's the little things that we miss the most”
2020-06-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Arlene Foster One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source