Debate contribution: Appointment of the First Minister and deputy First Minister

Debate contribution by Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly on 3 February 2024.

MLA

Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

3 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Assembly Business

Heading

Appointment of the First Minister and deputy First Minister

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4255109

Read the official Assembly record

Text

First, Mr Speaker, may I congratulate you on being elected by both sides of the House to serve as Speaker? I know that you will carry out your duties with diligence, for which you are known, and great dedication. As one of the class of 1998, you have unrivalled experience on these Benches. I look forward to working with you and the rest of your team in the Speaker's Office. I also wish the outgoing Speaker well in his retirement and thank him sincerely for his service to the House. Michelle O'Neill and I come from very different backgrounds, but, regardless of that, for my part, I will work tirelessly to ensure that we can deliver for all in Northern Ireland. I recognise that, for many, today is an historic moment with the nomination of Michelle O'Neill and me as First Ministers. It is a day that confirms the democratic outcome of the election.

Serving people in this House in any role is an honour and a privilege. It is an opportunity to shape Northern Ireland for the better and to make a meaningful difference. I love Northern Ireland. I am deeply proud to be from this place that we call home. Despite our often troubled history and divisions of the past, I know that we have incredible potential. As a young girl sitting in Markethill High School almost 30 years ago, I could never have imagined that, one day, I would have the opportunity to serve in such a way. This is a responsibility and an honour that I will never take for granted. Each and every day. I will strive to make this place the very best that it can be. I thank Sir Jeffrey and deputy leader, Gavin Robinson, for their support by being here today, their leadership in getting us to this point and for the great honour of being asked to step up and serve. Like so many across the Chamber and throughout Northern Ireland, I grew up with conflict. As a child of just 11 years old, I stepped outside my Markethill home on a warm August afternoon to the absolute devastation from an IRA bomb. Seared in my experience is that haunting wail of alarms and the sounds of our emergency services, the carpet of glass and debris, the shock, the crying and the panic that shook and destroyed that place I called home. I am thankful that our young people today do not have to face that terror, which so many of us here faced. As a child, I did not understand the politics of it, but I will never forget the fear, the hurt and the anger. There are moments in each of our lives that shape us. The past, with all its horror, can never be forgotten, nor will it be allowed to be rewritten. While we are shaped by the past, we are not defined by it. The experience of my childhood gave me the drive and desire to make a different future, not for just myself but to do all that I could and can to ensure a better future for all of us. Across the Chamber, we have different political viewpoints and experiences. However, we know that the wee mummy waiting for her cancer diagnosis is not defined as republican or unionist; she is defined by sleepless nights and the worry that she may not see her children grow up. The daddy fighting to get the right educational support for his child is defined not by orange or green but by the stress and anxiety for the future of the child whom he loves. Let that be your inspiration, for those are the issues that we can agree on. The challenges that so many families face throughout Northern Ireland are the same no matter where or what we are or believe. It is those shared problems, which are blighting too many lives, that we can work constructively and urgently together to improve. We must learn the lessons of the past seven years. Whatever path we take — on health service reform, schools reform or improving public services to make this place the thriving and flourishing Northern Ireland that it can be — we will succeed only by walking that path side by side; not by dismissing and demeaning each other's concerns. There can be no dominating of one over the other; rather, there must be a new approach of recognising the concerns of each other and finding solutions together. We are all born equal, and the people who look on this sitting today demand that we work together. Michelle is an Irish republican, and I am a very proud unionist. We will never agree on those issues, but we can agree that cancer does not discriminate and that our hospitals need to be fixed. We can agree that too many mummies, and some daddies, are having to give up work because childcare is too expensive. We agree that our teachers need to be supported and equipped to teach and that our public-sector workers need to be properly paid.

We all agree that drugs destroy communities and that the police need the resources to put the dealers out of business. We can all agree that economic prosperity is the game changer for every community. Let us be a source of hope to those young people who are watching today, not one of despair. Let us prove that difference, through recognition and respect, can be a strength and that difference need not be a barrier to progress and delivery. This is my pledge: I love this place that we call home, and I will work tirelessly for delivery for all the people of Northern Ireland, from every background. I will do so to the best of my abilities, honoured by the privilege and opportunity to do so. Let us do it, side by side, and let us keep Northern Ireland moving forward.

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

Assessment

Not qualifying

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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