Debate contribution: Belfast's Night-time Economy

Debate contribution by Ms Carál Ní Chuilín on 4 February 2025.

MLA

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

4 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Belfast's Night-time Economy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4779683

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I will start by saying that there is hope out there. Some of you might be going to bed at 9.00 pm, but, when the kids get older, there is hope. I am of an age where I am going back around again

I remember the Harp Bar from the first time round, and I know it now since it has reopened. There is life after 9.00 pm, and being 60 does not stop you going out. I am just letting you know that. Thank you for securing the Adjournment debate, Phillip. It is a very important topic. Deirdre hit on connectivity, and other Members mentioned it. Yes, the daytime and night-time economies are slightly different, but they are connected. I grew up in an area, Carrick Hill, that is right beside the town, and you can walk into and out of town from there. That is quite handy. However, we have certainly overcome the challenges that our city has faced over decades. One of the biggest revolutions that we had was the change in licensing laws. They were archaic and embarrassing. I remember when I was in the Department, and, at times when there were big events, people found a different way to access alcohol — I will just leave that there. All I am saying is that we need to look at our city centre. As a woman, I feel unsafe in parts of the city. I do not want to pooh-pooh the debate, but that is how I feel. I would feel unsafe walking on my own, and I am sure that fellas would say the same. We need to look at the arterial routes and at lighting, but we also need to look at transport. We mentioned Translink, but we also need to make sure that taxis do not stick the hand in the further that people live outside the centre, because the fares are not regulated. That needs to be sorted out. Another thing that needs to be sorted out is making sure that our local traders and the people who work in the night-time economy have support. Belfast City Council has the Belfast agenda, which has an ambition to grow the city centre population by 66,000. That is a massive ambition that would mean more people coming into the city. However, people live in the city centre, and they need to be factored into everything. The residents in the Market area, Short Strand, Bridge End, Carrick Hill and Sailortown lived in those places well before there was the current city centre, and I ask that people take that into consideration. I am glad that there is a night tsar. When you put value on something, it speaks volumes. We now see acts such as Kneecap who might have auditioned in the Limelight and the 'Belfast Telegraph' building. Kneecap are now getting mentions at the Oscars. Belfast did that. We did it, and we should be proud. The traders and vendors who took the risk of getting in groups such as that can now claim some success. We need to give them all something back. I am happy to be a part of any development. We need to look at the dereliction in our city centre. It is not down just to the Economy, Infrastructure or Communities Departments to deal with that; it is down to us all. There have been decades of dereliction. Investors have been involved in land banking huge swathes of property. Either they need to invest and move on or that land needs to be taken from them and used to contribute to our economy. Thank you.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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