Debate contribution: Racial Equality Legislation

Debate contribution by Ms Kate Nicholl on 13 October 2026.

MLA: Ms Kate Nicholl
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 13 October 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Opposition Business
Heading: Racial Equality Legislation
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5789994

Text

I had some comments prepared about the legislation and what is needed, but that has been covered. I will start by thanking the Opposition for tabling the motion. Some of the leaders of our black community are in the Gallery, and I thank them for their leadership and courage and for speaking out. I know that what drives so much of their work is other people in their community who do not have access to politicians and who cannot pick up the phone to the BBC to make points. They really want us to take this seriously. Not wanting to rush through legislation is not really a reason. It has been 30 years. As so often when we have such debates, I think of Anna Lo and what she went through. I think about what she did and what she would be thinking about where we are right now. I will centre most of my comments on what young people and children experience. So often when we talk about racism — and this is no one's fault — we talk about the benefits that people from minority communities bring to our society. We need to stay away from that idea, because every person has value and worth. We fall into the trap of talking about good migrants and bad migrants — people who are deserving and people who are not. Every person is deserving of equality, dignity and being treated equally. We are not delivering that in Northern Ireland. How many people must feel fearful? Every year for the past three years, there have been race riots. What does it feel like to be a child knowing that summer is coming and that that may happen again? When I met families the day after the most recent riots — people who had been taken out of their homes — they were terrified. Their children did not go back to school for months. What sort of childhood is that? What are we doing for those children? We fall into narratives that may get us some social media likes, but we have to be so careful, because behind every one of the awful statistics that were read out is a real human being with a family who feels this. This place knows what it is like to have division and knows the danger of othering people. We have to overcome that. When I spoke to the children and young people from Diverse Youth Northern Ireland, they said, "Racism and sectarianism are not the same thing, but they stem from the same thing". Peacebuilding has to involve how we treat people from other communities. We are failing children from minority ethnic communities in our society. This Black History Month, we need to recognise that we have to do better. Next summer cannot be more of the same.

474 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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