Debate contribution: Sectarian and Racist Intimidation

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 16 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

16 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Sectarian and Racist Intimidation

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5111934

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I thank the Members who tabled the motion. I welcome the opportunity to speak to it and to unequivocally condemn the sectarian and racist intimidation of individuals and attacks on their homes. I have said, and I will repeat it today, that the attacks on individuals and on their homes must stop. I recently joined my Executive colleagues in publicly condemning all forms of racism, sectarianism and hostility towards individuals, whatever their background. We have been united in our messaging that all acts of violence and intimidation are abhorrent and have no place in our society whatsoever. It is wrong, and it needs to be condemned.

That is why I have to take issue with the comments that Mr Gildernew made today. The Member said:

"It is disappointing that the Minister for Communities has not been overly vocal in condemning"

those attacks and

"at the time of the riots … you failed to speak out strongly".

That is an untruth.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I consider that a slur against me, and the Member has crossed a line. There are many, many examples, because I have been in front of the —

No, I will not, because I have heard enough from him already. Unless he is prepared to apologise, and I do not think that he is, I do not want to hear any more of what he has to say. I was very clear in June, over the summer and in September in condemning the violence. Before it happened, I said that it was never acceptable. Afterwards, I said that it was never acceptable. I will always condemn violence. I do not care where it happens. I do not care who it happens to. I do not care what the source is. I will always condemn it because I believe that violence is always wrong. I believe that violence should never be seen as acceptable in any way, shape or form. That is what sets me apart from the Member; that is what sets me apart from his leader in this place; and that is what sets me apart from his party. They have some cheek to come to this place and talk about condemnation of violence when they have continued for years to justify violence that took place against people right across our society, so I will not take it. Let me be very clear to the House, and, importantly, let me say to everybody out there, especially those who have been affected by violence and those disgraceful scenes that we have seen over the past number of months, that I condemn that completely and unequivocally, and I wish that everybody in the House had always taken that approach to violence. More than that, we should not be condemning it with just our words. We need to take action to make sure that it does not happen again. In the Executive statement on racist and sectarian attacks, on 4 September, we pledged to continue to work in partnership with the PSNI, civic leaders, community organisations and statutory bodies to ensure that our streets, neighbourhoods and communities reflect the values of equality and respect. That is certainly what I am doing in the Department for Communities and with my responsibility for housing. I would just say, at this point, that there are actions that we can take, and are taking, that do not always happen in the full glare of the cameras, because sometimes that is not right. Sometimes, it is better for us to take a different approach, but that does not mean that we are not taking action. I commend my colleagues who have been working, sometimes quietly behind the scenes, bringing people together, allowing opportunity for dialogue and making sure that relations can be improved. I want to thank Members who have taken that approach, and I will continue to work with them on that. The issue of housing has been raised. I have said on many occasions that I am working closely with all partners to improve housing supply generally and to remove barriers to building more social and affordable homes. I am pleased to say that that is reflected in the Programme for Government as a key Executive priority. I continue to press for the budget to build the homes that we so badly need. However, we also need to have confidence that people and their homes will not be threatened or targeted. I would welcome further funding from the successor programme to T:BUC for the Department's Housing for All shared housing programme. It now supports 12 housing associations working across 85 developments, totalling 2,925 homes delivered or in development. That programme makes a substantial contribution to building good relations in our society through building shared communities. I visited an on-site Housing for All development in Cushendall last week and visited the children in two local primary schools in the community. The local areas will benefit not only from that additional shared housing supply but from the support of a community-led good relations plan. I also visited the housing development in Alloa Street in north Belfast just before Christmas last year, and it was evident to me that those new homes changed the lives of residents and created a place for them to put down roots in the local community. We were all horrified to hear that residents in that development were being threatened and that their homes, which have received significant public investment, have been damaged. The recent news that that has surfaced again is, of course, extremely concerning. I condemn those attacks, and I can assure the House that my officials continue to keep in contact with Clanmil, the landlord for those properties, and the relevant statutory partners, including the Housing Executive. I understand that the local PSNI community team is also engaged, and I am grateful for the work that Clanmil is doing to support its tenants and to ensure that they have a safe place to call home. As an Executive, our Departments are working closely on these issues. My officials participate in the Department of Justice's community safety network, and that is an element of the community safety framework, so there is ongoing and proactive engagement on how we can work together more effectively to keep people safe from appalling intimidation. I am also keen to introduce legislation to more effectively tackle antisocial behaviour in our communities. The proposal for changes to legislation was part of a joint consultation with the Department of Justice, so there is also active collaboration and engagement in this policy area. I will continue to call for more investment in new social and affordable homes, including community work to build relations between our communities, and it is vital that funding be prioritised by the Executive to support that work. I will continue to take action alongside Executive colleagues and with other partners to address those issues and ensure that, in line with our PFG commitment, everyone has access to affordable, sustainable and quality houses that meet their needs within thriving and inclusive communities. There has been a significant debate this evening, with wide-ranging views expressed. Some of those views I agree with and some of them I take issue with, but I hope that the one message that can go out this evening is that we are committed to tackling the scourge of violence and intimidation and that we can also air our views on these issues. I hope that we have the freedom to do so, because, in trying to shut down debate and limit conversation about these issues, we are only contributing to some of the issues that we are facing. A lack of information out there can lead to some of the problems that we have seen. Being open, honest and forthright with people will help us as we seek to deal with some of these issues. Trying to shut down conversation and limit people from having their say is never a good approach. Therefore, I welcome some of the comments that have been made by my colleagues on this issue. However, I hope that we can unite on the need to condemn all the sectarian and racist attacks and work together to make sure that we improve the outlook for the future.

1,388 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification