Member's statement: Maternity Leave
Member's statement by Ms Kate Nicholl on .
- MLA
- Ms Kate Nicholl
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 6 October 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Maternity Leave
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5156519
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I feel as though I have been here for months now after this morning. It is 2025, and I stand here as the first MLA to have taken proper maternity leave. New rules that allow proxy voting and maternity staff cover came in just before I went off. That support simply did not exist when I had my second child, Étaín. Back then, I had just finished my term as Lord Mayor of Belfast and had been elected to the Assembly, which was suspended. Even though we were not passing legislation or scrutinising in Committees, we were all still busy with casework in our constituency offices. There is a picture of me with Étaín, who is a week and a half old, and I am wearing her in a baby carrier. Back then, I wore that as a badge of honour because I had gone back to work so quickly, as though I were saying, "Look how dedicated I am to my job". It is only now that I see that, actually, I was undermining the importance of maternity leave. I feel so sad when I see that picture for Étaín, for me and for any mother whom I unwittingly put pressure on to feel that it was normal. Maternity leave matters. It matters for mums, babies and families, and it benefits society by promoting equality and helping women to stay in the workforce. Too many women face impossible choices between career and family. So much of that is due to the cost of childcare. That really has to change. Six months ago, my husband, Fergal, and I welcomed our beautiful baby boy, Dara. It is his first day at day care today, and my first day back at work. I am a little sad about it, I have to say. Rather than wearing the badge of honour of going back to work really early, this time I wear the badge of honour of focusing on my child and on me. I thank my amazing team, particularly Curtis Irvine, who held everything together. I also thank colleagues in the Chamber. So many people reached out to me from across the political spectrum to check on us. It was greatly appreciated. It has reminded me that caring is not a distraction from leadership; it is part of what makes us better at it. I hope that any woman MLA feels empowered to take whatever time they need when the time comes. I hope that more women see that you can have a young family and a career in politics, because, when our institutions reflect real life, we make better decisions for real people. I am back, Mr Deputy Speaker, and more motivated than ever to work on the issues that really impact on family life: childcare, the cost of living and opportunities for the next generation. Those are the issues that unite us and that we can work on together. While I miss Dara so much today and feel really sad about it —
— I know that, if we are working for him, it is worth it.
524 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.08 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.40 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.59 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.41 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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