Debate contribution: Shared Future: Strategic Framework

Debate contribution by Ms Kate Nicholl on 8 April 2024.

MLA

Ms Kate Nicholl

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

8 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Shared Future: Strategic Framework

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4481578

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I start by thanking all the Members who spoke for their considered contributions to this important debate. Before addressing some key aspects that were raised in the debate, I will focus on two issues, to do with integrated education and shared housing, that were touched on briefly by my Alliance Party colleagues. On integrated education, as my colleague Connie Egan stated, research from Ulster University has estimated that the additional cost of maintaining a divided education system — £226 million each year, or over £600,000 every day — clearly shows that our divided education system has deep financial costs. Educating our children separately also has societal costs, however. Our schools should represent the diversity of our society, and integrated education provides the intentionality required to ensure that we are building a more inclusive and reconciled society. Harry Harvey is one of my favourite members of the DUP, so it pains me to challenge him, but I did not agree with anything that he said about integrated education.

It is not just about people from mixed backgrounds attending a school. It is about so much more than that. It is about an ethos. Not every school is integrated. Integrated schools have an intentionality and ethos, and they give our children the chance to build relationships with pupils from different backgrounds and to appreciate and celebrate their differences and what they have in common. That theme was brought out in the debate: it is not about denying our differences but about celebrating them and how doing so enriches us, as the deputy First Minister said. Alliance believes that every child should have the choice and option of attending an integrated school, thus reducing the cost of division and playing a crucial role in building a shared future. Increasing integrated education provision in order to meet demand should be an important part of the strategic framework for the shared future that the motion calls for. I really appreciated Matthew O'Toole's comments about the cut to funding and the impact that that has. Sinéad McLaughlin talked about how 7% of schools — 8% now — are integrated. That is just not enough. I will move on to shared housing. My colleague Paula Bradshaw, who, in moving the motion, spoke so well, referenced how the lack of shared housing is a major barrier to building a genuinely shared future. Shared housing was recently moved out of the Executive Office and into the Communities portfolio, forming part of the broader housing brief, and we find that concerning. Shared housing must be prioritised, and it cannot be diluted or sidelined any further. It must be given the funding and resources required in order to ensure that it does not get lost or neglected. Where shared housing is developed, it must be reflective of Northern Ireland in all its diversity. As Connie said, it is not just about two communities; it is about creating communities that are genuinely reflective and full of the richness of our increasingly diverse society. We strongly believe that shared housing is a crucial tool in building a shared future and that, like integrated education, it must form part of the strategic framework for building a shared future. I really liked Mike Nesbitt's contribution. He mentioned the positivity that exists in the Building now. It feels as though there is a genuine commitment to working together and collaboration. I thank the First Minister and deputy First Minister for being so committed to that, and especially for their portrayal of that to the public, because the public really need to see it. Today's debate has highlighted that. I welcome Carál's points about how it is not just in working-class areas that sectarianism exists. I will not name the areas, but, as someone who has canvassed in all parts of my constituency and other constituencies, I can say that some of the most blatant sectarianism that I have witnessed came from very privileged areas where it goes unchecked. That is a piece of work that we all need to address. There is an urgent need to prioritise the allocation of multi-annual funding for the good relations sector's future planning and sustainability. We have talked a lot about the sector and the work that communities do, but they are hindered by the lack of multi-annual funding and the instability that results from a lack of stable government. The sector is often first to become vulnerable to deep cuts when government budgets are tight. We need to widen the scope of good relations. We are more than just two communities; in my work with minority ethnic communities, that is constantly raised with me. In relation to that, Paula raised the issue of racial prejudice and refugee integration. A constituent of mine Takura Makoni had racist graffiti sprayed on his house yesterday. His only crime was speaking out about racism in our society. I had the privilege of working for Anna Lo when she was an MLA, and Anna always said that sectarianism and racism are two sides of the same coin. We allow it to happen by not calling it out, and we all need to do better in challenging the sectarianism and racism that exist in our society. Quite frankly, it is often the same people who come out and talk about that, so we all need to do better.

I completely agree, and I pay tribute to you, because, at every town hall meeting on asylum seekers and refugees that I go to, you are there. Yes, that really needs to be addressed, and that is why I welcome work on the racial equality strategy. I look forward to seeing the results, but they cannot be just words; we need actions. There needs to be monitoring and data, and we need to have targets to work towards. Pádraig Delargy discussed T:BUC and Urban Villages and the positive effects that they have. He said that he would have liked to see the North/South dimension. I really liked the "take stock" perspective that his speech brought, because that was our intention. It is about how far we have come and also where we need to go. Emma Sheerin talked about her politics and said that it was a very important conversation. I liked her line about no one asking where you went on Sunday. We should not ask that David Honeyford gave such a lovely contribution about Granny Sally. As Sinéad McLaughlin said, it happens with love; I really like that line. Sinéad said lots of useful things about how society is changing. She talked about new communities and about recognising that, for too many people, division is real and that there is structural segregation. That is true. The deputy First Minister apologised for being late. Nobody held that against her, and we are delighted to see the North/South Ministerial Council meet today. She recognised the work that communities do, and we all see that in our constituencies. That is why the framework is so important. Communities are delivering that work, and, as an Assembly, we should not hinder that. We should support and drive that work and do more around it. I thank her for that. She said that T:BUC is under review. She talked about her own identity and culture and said that our identity is part of us and that we must respect that in others. She then talked about the different elements that have been successful, including Urban Villages, shared housing and the United Youth programme. All in all, it was a really positive debate, and the contributions were really worthwhile. A lot of work still needs to happen, and we have talked about the multiple areas of work and how that will require cross-departmental working. The tone during the debate, from most people, was very welcome. I hope that it was taken that our intention was really just to celebrate our diversity, our differences, our different heritages and histories and everything that makes us unique, special and different. As an Assembly, we should be supporting that and working towards a genuinely shared future that we can all enjoy.

1,355 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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