Debate contribution: Sign Language Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Ms Joanne Bunting on 18 February 2025.

MLA: Ms Joanne Bunting
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 18 February 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Executive Committee Business
Heading: Sign Language Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4806688

Text

First, I apologise that I was not in my place at the beginning of the debate. I had other responsibilities in the House. At the outset, I want to say that I am immensely grateful to the Minister for introducing this much-needed Bill, which will most certainly change lives and change the quality of lives. I had not intended to speak in the debate and will do so only briefly. I have campaigned for this for a long time because of my experience with the deaf community. Many, many years ago, as a young teenager, I attended a basic sign language class at Dundonald Elim church that I loved. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can remember a couple of words, but, to my shame, no more than a couple.
When I first became an MLA, in 2016, I was warmly welcomed into the Deaf Christian Fellowship in east Belfast, whose congregation comes from across Northern Ireland. Those people taught me so much about the issues facing our deaf community that I had just not considered and that the rest of us who can hear take for granted. They were things that we never think about but that they always have to think about, such as the challenges that face them when raising their children and keeping them safe. When we see a toddler heading towards danger, the rest of us can use our voices to stop them in their tracks. We can call out, and they will stop. That is not the case with a deaf child: there has to be a physical and/or visual intervention every time. When a child in a room goes silent, we know to check what is going on with them, what is happening and what they are up to. People in our deaf community do not share those simple luxuries. They have to be able to see what is happening all the time and be able to intervene directly and physically, because they cannot hear the warning signs and nor, often, can their children. That is considerable pressure in itself, but imagine everyday experiences of shopping, medical appointments and just general interaction. None of that is ever straightforward or easy. Imagine the huge effort required at all times and how draining that must be. Then add into the mix, as those churchgoers taught me, the fact that the deaf community writes and texts differently from those who can hear. You might imagine that, if there were communication issues, writing or texting could overcome them, but that is not necessarily always the case. When I was out canvassing at one stage, I happened to come upon a man whom I had met in the church to which I referred earlier. We both smiled and tried to communicate as best we could. I was able to understand that his wife was seriously ill. I was eager to help and to offer him our services in any way to try to secure her whatever she needed. We used our phones and paper and pen, but it was very difficult for us both. It was already a hard conversation for him, as he was emotional, but he was frustrated, embarrassed and, ultimately, resigned to the difficulty, because he had been in that situation so often in the past with a hearing person. In the end, he just shrugged. I did not know what to do. I just hugged him, because I, too, was embarrassed that I could not understand everything. We were struggling so much to make ourselves understood, despite all our efforts. That gracious congregation taught me so much about the extent of the social isolation that people in our deaf community perpetually face for their entire lives. Swathes of our people are struggling with complex, huge and overwhelming social isolation, cut off and excluded from the rest of us and from many aspects of life and society because their language and communication are different. For them, sign language is not a luxury; it is a necessity. The Bill will be a game changer at long last. The DUP takes support for our deaf community extremely seriously. I am nothing short of thrilled, in all honesty, to see the Bill going through the Assembly. It will make a genuine, significant and tangible difference to so many people. That should be what we in this place are all about. Many can talk about isolation, but the Minister has walked the walk. I am delighted and excited for the difference that the Bill will make. I congratulate the Minister, I welcome the Bill and I commend it to the House.

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

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