Official Report: Tuesday 25 November 2025
The Assembly met at 10:30 am (Mr Speaker in the Chair).
Members observed two minutes' silence.
Mr Speaker: I received notification yesterday from the nominating officer for Sinn Féin that Cathy Mason has replaced Nicola Brogan as Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Communities, and Emma Sheerin has replaced Deirdre Hargey as Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Justice with immediate effect.
Ms Sheerin: Tá Lá Idirnáisiúnta um Dhíothú an Fhoréigin in aghaidh na mBan ann inniu. Ar an drochuair, tá ár sáith taithí againn ar an fhoréigean in aghaidh na mban sa Tuaisceart. Tá an fhadhb chomh forleathan sin gurbh éigean lá aitheantais domhanda a thiomnú di. Rinne na Náisiúin Aontaithe amach díriú ar an fhoréigean in aghaidh na mban agus thug siad tiomantas deireadh a chur leis, agus aird ar leith á tabhairt acu ar mhí-úsáid dhigiteach, agus ba chóir dó sin uchtach a thabhairt dúinn uilig. Tá mé cinnte go dtig le gach duine sa tSeomra tacú leis sin.
[Translation: Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, something we in the North find ourselves faced with all too often. It is sobering that this phenomenon is so widespread that it justifies a worldwide day of acknowledgement. The decision by the UN to focus on it and its commitment to end it, with a particular reference to digital abuse, should be heartening for us all. It is something that, I am sure, all in the Chamber can get behind.]
I am glad that the focus of this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is on online abuse. We will all agree that that conversation is needed. Social media has become a platform for torturing women. That causes emotional harm to every victim, but I argue that the lessons that it teaches our young people are even more harmful in the long term. It is not just on social media; it has been mainstreamed. We recently elected a new president in Ireland. In the days following her inauguration, the national broadcaster thought it appropriate to run a piece on what she was wearing. What does that teach the young girls of Ireland? You can literally become president, and, still, all that they will care about is what you look like.
We are teaching our young women that they are lesser and that their value is measured by their appearance, and then online trolls and bullies attack women when they make an effort with their appearance. It is in that context that the abuse of women is allowed to flourish. Women are deemed to be subhuman, lesser, disposable and expendable. That mindset murders women. In the past five and half years, it has murdered 37 women here in the North. Most of those women met their deaths at the hands of someone that they knew, whether it was a partner or an ex-partner. None of those women sat down during a first or second date and accepted terms that would see them killed, but, going by the online commentary, you would think that they had.
Victim blaming is rife on social media as well, and until we deal with that, we will see a continuation of the problem of online bullying, abuse targeted at women and the post-mortems that see them as being responsible for their own deaths. Until we deal with our words, we will keep losing women. That is something that we all need to address.
Mr Brett: The comments yesterday from the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) that it would not be bringing charges against a former Sinn Féin employee for an attack on a portrait at Belfast City Hall have all the hallmarks of yet another republican cover-up and raise serious questions about the accuracy of statements that were made in the House and by Sinn Féin to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
On 22 October 2024, the First Minister said:
"a Sinn Féin employee who worked in the Assembly made the party Chief Whip aware of their involvement in an incident regarding a portrait in Belfast City Hall." — [Official Report (Hansard), 22 October 2024, p1, col 1].
The PPS has confirmed that, in an email received from the Sinn Féin Chief Whip, the PSNI was advised of the resignation of that employee as a result of the incident. However, come February 2025, Sinn Féin's rewriting of the past began. I will quote directly from the PPS statement:
"A witness statement subsequently made in February 2025 by the Chief Whip, who had spoken directly to the individual on 21 October 2024, recorded that he had in fact made no admission to being at the event and had denied any knowledge of the damage."
Within the space of six months, the Sinn Féin Chief Whip had confirmed that either they were not telling the truth or that the First Minister had misled the House.
The PPS statement also says:
"Attempts to obtain a list of attendees from the external group responsible for hosting the event were unsuccessful."
When a group is in receipt of public funding, there is a moral and legal requirement that it cooperates fully with police investigations. It is a very serious matter that that group did not provide a list of attendees to the police. Today, I have tabled a number of questions to the First Minister and deputy First Minister and the Minister for Communities, seeking clarity on the public funding that that organisation has received.
The statement went on to confirm:
"Police were unable to identify any individual who had witnessed the relevant events."
We know that Sinn Féin representatives have been unable to identify former employees that have been right in front of them before. They are now claiming that they were unable to identify one of their employees at an event at City Hall.
There is an attempt here by Sinn Féin to cover up the fact that the son of one of its sitting MLAs attacked the portrait of a former Lord Mayor of the city, costing ratepayers of the city £2,500. The truth will come out, and we will ensure that it does.
Ms Egan: 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence begins today. Those 16 days are a reminder that we must maintain momentum in our collective fight to end violence against women and girls once and for all. The theme of the days for 2025 is "#NoExcuse for online abuse" and brings into focus the need for lawmakers, social media companies and other regulatory bodies, including Ofcom, to keep pace with our unwieldy and ever-evolving online world.