Debate contribution: Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 14 January 2025.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

14 January 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4736739

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. In every society and in every age, there is an injustice on which everybody feels that they must come together to overcome in order for us to have a peaceful and civil society. In the last number of years, the issue of violence against women and girls has really come to the fore and needs to be addressed by us. It was in that spirit that the Opposition tabled a suite of motions that we can debate and discuss in this place today. It gives us an opportunity to test where there is consensus and agreement in order to see how we can progress and move matters forward. The debate has been positive. I sense that, in the Chamber, there is more that we agree than we disagree on. Importantly, that sends a message to people that we are trying to work together to achieve a programme that will work in our schools and help our young people. There are undeniable facts. We have one of the highest rates for murders of women. As a society, we should not just sit back and acknowledge that; we must do something about it. In order to do something about it, we must recognise — there is a fair recognition of this — that there is, among some, a value base or an approach that is inconsistent with the peaceful society that we want to see. The best way to support young people is, first and foremost, within the family, and then we get the opportunity to reinforce that in the education system by educating young people. That also allows us to address the imbalances, if there are any, where families are not teaching the correct values for society. We get that opportunity to do what we can to address the imbalances.

I am in the job of trying to get votes, so I will not say that there should be more homework. That is something that should be addressed. In this context, however, we should prioritise the type of education that we want to give our young people that shapes them best for the future. In the context of what we are discussing today, there is an opportunity to have an approach in RSE in our schools that helps to shape our young people to be the best citizens for the future and would be a good help to them. Very briefly, I say that I am enjoying the fact that more and more Members are saying that the debates are too short and they are not getting the opportunity to participate. That is good. Turning up to these debates is good. When we first had a round of Opposition days, the Chamber was empty, and we had all the debates done in about two hours instead of four hours. Suddenly, now that we have condensed it, everybody is jumping up and down saying that they do not have enough time. That is good and positive, and that is what the Opposition brings to the Chamber. It gives us an opportunity to examine issues as important as RSE and the other motions that have been presented today. I like the fact that people feel that they under a little bit of pressure for the time to do that. We have two amendments before us. I struggle a little with the DUP amendment: not with its overall context but because it does not acknowledge that what we have at the moment is not fit for purpose. It removes the references to the academic research, which comes from the experts and not the politicians. One or two people have said that it is not for politicians to set the agenda, but this is about the experts in academia. They came up with the report. We do not think that removing the references to that is a good thing. The amendment also replaces the sense of implementing recommendations with reviewing them, which takes our foot off the pedal a bit. We are happy to support the Alliance amendment, although we believe that all Ministers should be involved. Justice has a really important part to play, and we would love to see the Justice Minister doing more.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:50 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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