Member's statement: Hate Crime and Intimidation
Member's statement by Mr Colm Gildernew on .
- MLA
- Mr Colm Gildernew
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 8 June 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Hate Crime and Intimidation
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5600223
Read the official Assembly record
Text
In recent weeks, we have seen once again the appearance of racist imagery in the Moygashel area of Dungannon. It was rightly removed by the PSNI, which also commenced a criminal investigation of it. That banner has, disgracefully, been re-erected with the clear intention of sowing division, hatred, prejudice and fear in our community. I call on all political representatives and community leaders in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to strongly and immediately condemn the re-erection of the banner and to call for its immediate removal. The presence of masked men at a children's park is a further sinister development that must also be called out and investigated. There is no place in our society for racism. It is time to take a stand against division and to stand up for inclusion and respect.
Over the weekend, we also saw a deplorable arson attack in the Shankill area of Belfast. I utterly condemn that. Targeting a building because of who owns it is despicable, especially when areas are crying out for jobs and investment. The owner of the building has lived here for more than 20 years, investing in our community and seeking to build something positive. My thoughts are with him and all those affected by that appalling incident. There is no place in our society for hate crime, racism or sectarianism in any form. All political representatives and community leaders should strongly condemn the attack. Those responsible for it seek to spread fear and division, and they do nothing but damage their own communities. I urge anyone with information that can assist the investigation to come forward and contact the PSNI immediately. In Scarva, we saw more masked men seeking to intimidate a peaceful march and Carla Lockhart standing shoulder to shoulder with them. The spraying of slurry on roads in Scarva is darkly reminiscent of a previous era when civil rights protesters were sprayed with slurry on the streets of Dungannon. Attempts by the DUP to deflect are pathetic. People see through those attempts and see them for what they are. Again, we see the DUP standing on the wrong side, determined to drag us all back to the past rather than looking forward. I urge all political representatives in the Chamber to call out those acts for what they are: hateful, racist and sectarian. They belong to the past. Our job is to build a better future.
400 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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