Member's statement: Women's Aid Armagh Down: Be the Change

Member's statement by Mr Justin McNulty on 5 March 2024.

MLA

Mr Justin McNulty

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

5 March 2024

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Women's Aid Armagh Down: Be the Change

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4252334

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Last week, I attended a remarkable event in Newry: Women's Aid Armagh Down's Be the Change conference. Some of the contributions and testimonies at that important conference were harrowing, stomach-churning, informative, frightening and inspirational. I have reflected almost continuously on that conference since I attended, and my feelings of angst have ebbed into feelings of inspiration and a belief that those people and families who have endured trauma and come out the other side are not victims but survivors, and, in many cases, champions who have moved through pain to positivity. I think particularly of a number of families in my constituency and beyond when I say that. Collie and Eithne Bell are parents who tragically lost their son Kevin in a hit-and-run accident in New York when he was just 26 years old. Did Collie and Eithne go to pieces? Probably, but who amongst us would not? However, they also set their minds to honouring their son's memory. They founded the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, which has repatriated the remains of around 2,000 people to their families. Collie and Eithne Bell have focused all their hurt and heartbreak on lifting weight off the shoulders of families who are enduring the same trauma that they endured. I think of Noel and Bernadette McNally and their sons Brendan, Declan and Niall. After the brutal murder of their daughter and sister, Natalie, and their unborn grandchild, Noel, Bernadette and their family stand as advocates and champions for the protection of women and girls. They travel the length and breadth of this country to share their story and spark inspiration in others, fighting to end men's violence against women. I heard them speak at the Women's Aid conference in Newry last week, and I was mesmerised at the power of Noel's speech to hundreds of delegates. Noel said at the conference:

"Some people say you learn to live with the pain, but the pain never gets any easier".

I think of the McAnallen family: Brendan RIP, Bridget, Donal and Fergus. After tragically losing their son and brother to sudden adult death syndrome, the McAnallen family set up the Cormac Trust. The mission of the trust was to raise awareness of sudden cardiac deaths in young people, promote cardiac screening for young people and provide automated external defibrillators to all sports clubs for the entire community to use. Again, they channelled their hurt and heartbreak into saving other families from going through the same trauma that they went through.

I also think of Seamus McCabe, who, following the death of his son Séamas, who tragically died aged 20, established PIPS Hope and Support. Since that time, PIPS has evolved, and it has emerged as the leading suicide prevention and counselling service in the Southern Trust. Seamus was also instrumental in the development of the crisis cafe. A place for people who need help to cope with their mental or emotional distress, the cafe is the first of its kind in the North. Moving from trauma to post-traumatic growth has been extraordinary for those families, and I commend them.

When the moment is at its darkest —.

When things seem darkest, cometh the dawn, and then comes the light.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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