Debate contribution: Opposition to Racism

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 8 August 2024.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

8 August 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Opposition to Racism

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4500391

Read the official Assembly record

Text

It is important that we are here today. My party was glad to support the recall of the Assembly. It is hard to find the words to describe what we have seen unfold in the past week in the capital city and elsewhere. The scenes of racist attacks, wanton destruction and outright hatred have been appalling, disturbing and plainly wrong. Last weekend, we saw nothing short of an explosion of hate on our streets. It has shaken us all. I hope that today provides an opportunity for loud and unequivocal condemnation of that hate from every single politician and every single party. That is political leadership, and I hope that, collectively, we do that today. Over the past week, far right agitators have sought to cruelly and criminally exploit people, often our teenagers, for their own racist ends. Those agitators have shown the worst of our society. They have shown the dark underbelly of the racist and fascist attitudes that still exist. They made me embarrassed and ashamed, not just because those elements still exist but because this is 2024 and we still have a society where those kinds of attitudes are allowed to fester and grow and where too many people still point to desperate people who come across on boats and dinghies as being the enemy. The vast majority of us know that it is inequality, not immigration, that is the real enemy. I was proud to stand in a packed Guildhall Square last night and listen to our mayor — our first citizen — give a powerful, passionate speech against right-wing agitators. It was a message of hope, and it was powerfully delivered by our first black mayor. That gave me hope, because that is who we are, and that is who Northern Ireland is. We heard that loud and clear at those demonstrations. The barriers to housing or employment are not because of migrants or refugees, of whom, by the way, we take a staggeringly low share. Those barriers are because of policy failure. Housing Rights has been clear that the housing crisis, in particular, is not caused by migration but by the devastatingly low levels of social housing that have been built. We need to get back to the facts in this public debate, and it is the job of all of us in this Chamber to educate and inform and never demonise. In the face of this violence, many people are rightly asking themselves what kind of society we are building for the next generation. It is also important to say today that our society cannot be one where this kind of behaviour is allowed to proceed or go unpunished or where attitudes remain unchanged, nor can it be one where we appeal to criminal gangs to use their influence to bring down tempers or quell racist incidents. Some of the language that we have heard over the past week, as well as some of the silence that has taken place, has been misguided and sinister. In short, it is my firm view that the people of Northern Ireland deserve so much better than this. The people of Northern Ireland are better than this. However, unfortunately, I also know that, as shocked as many were by the events of recent days, there are others, particularly from our minority communities, who were less shocked because they have seen such pervasive and perverse hate before. They see it in their daily lives, and they are less shocked because they know that the views that fuel the hate have, for many years now, been given credence and credibility by Governments, particularly across the water, that are more interested in stunts than solutions. There is no doubt that the rhetoric of recent years is coming home to roost, and the failure of the Government here is contributing to that crisis.

I will.

Absolutely. I totally agree with the Member. Although I and many others welcome the recall of the Assembly as the right thing to happen, we want to hear more than warm words. Today, I want to hear from the First Minister and deputy First Minister, and I want to see progress towards swift agreement on the refugee integration strategy and an update on the racial equality strategy. We also want to see and will play our part in ensuring strong accountability in Westminster on this issue to ensure that the new Government there live up to their commitments and overhaul the asylum system in a fair, compassionate and just way.

As a society and as political leaders, we will all have a job of work to do to deal with the root causes of racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia. Everywhere that we find them, we need to call them out. I would like to hear from the First Ministers about how they have engaged with the PSNI on its response last weekend and how it will deal with the issues, particularly given that there is the possibility of there being more protests this weekend.

Although we recognise the PSNI's service last weekend —.

OK. Although we recognise the PSNI's service last weekend, many people, including representatives of Amnesty International, have said that our police have questions to answer about why they did not stop those racists —

— from attacking communities and businesses with apparent impunity.

Thank you.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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