Member's statement: 'Called Out': Craic Theatre and Arts Centre, Coalisland

Member's statement by Mrs Linda Dillon on 14 April 2026.

MLA

Mrs Linda Dillon

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

14 April 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

'Called Out': Craic Theatre and Arts Centre, Coalisland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5481950

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I congratulate Cahal Clarke, Aoibh Clarke, Rónán Johnson and Craic Theatre and Arts Centre in Coalisland on their production of 'Called Out', which was written by Cahal and directed by Aoibh, with Rónán playing all the characters in a one-man show. It truly was a hard-hitting production, exploring the courage required of young men in particular to call out their peers' harmful behaviours and attitudes. It was a thought-provoking piece of work, delivered through funding provided by Mid Ulster District Council through the Executive strategy to end violence against women and girls. The difference with that production and how if differed from other things that I have seen that funding used for is that it was very aware of its target audience and how to reach it and of how it had the potential to make young people ask themselves whether they are willing to question harmful behaviours and attitudes among their peers. The play tells the story of what happens when, because they are their friends, they know them, they like them and they have grown up with them, men and boys do not challenge harmful behaviours displayed by other men and boys. It is for those very reasons that they fail to challenge such behaviours. The production was shown to many post-primary schools across mid-Ulster, and the feedback from the young people, their parents, their teachers and the adults around them has been outstanding because of the conversations that they were having afterwards. I spoke to some parents who went to see the play on the Friday night, and they said that, because of the opportunity to have a conversation after seeing it, all parents should see the production with their young people. The thoughtful way in which the production was presented has real potential to change how people think about harmful behaviours and attitudes towards women and girls. It is important that more young people across the North get the opportunity to see the play. We are well aware that 30 women have been murdered in the North since 2020, but we also need to understand that, in many cases, the men who killed those women displayed harmful behaviours before killing their partner, their wife or their mother. Were they challenged by their peers and their family? Many women and girls who are the victims of domestic and sexual violence will tell you that those men were not only not challenged by their peers and their family but were defended by them. Their behaviours were explained away. I will finish with a quote from Margaret Atwood. It comes from the 1980s, but, unfortunately, it is still the case:

"Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them."

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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