Results 1-20 of 34 for speaker:George Dawson

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: North/South Co-Operation (29 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: I have not given way. If an issue that is of benefit to the people of Northern Ireland is also of benefit to our neighbours, that added benefit would be welcome. However, we do not want or need enforced co-operation that is motivated politically rather than by practicalities. Enforced and unnecessary co-operation is of no use to anyone and will be rightly seen for what it is by Members on...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: North/South Co-Operation (29 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: I am in the Chamber, Madam Speaker.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: North/South Co-Operation (29 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: Madam Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in the debate; I did not think that I was that easy to miss. I join other Members in wishing Dr Farren well as he seeks to rediscover life beyond politics after today. I am sure that he will find that there is a vibrant life beyond this House. However, he will not find any other words of comfort in the remainder of my...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: North/South Co-Operation (29 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: I am not sure that I will; the Member has had a hard —

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: North/South Co-Operation (29 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: I will not give way.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Sudan (16 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: Throughout human history there are countless cases of the unimaginable horrors that man can inflict upon his fellow man. The Holocaust, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda — the list is as endless as it is horrific. The African Union Mission — a missionary organisation well known to, and supported by, many people in Northern Ireland — has said that the situation in...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Autism (9 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: In common with many Members, I have had occasion to meet parents, grandparents and other family members who have gone into great detail in outlining the personal and often heartbreaking reality that an Assembly motion could never express. There are children in all sections of the community who are on the autism spectrum. Therefore, I am disappointed, but not surprised, that some Members have...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Autism (9 Jan 2007)

George Dawson: I thank the Member for that intervention. I am aware of examples of where people have been driven to despair, not only in that case, but in other cases too. Multidisciplinary working can assist families, because this is a complex issue, and a seamless approach and support to the child is needed. Let me ask the House a very simple and straightforward question. Who in the government system is...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Water Charges (18 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: Does the Member agree that another fundamental question that must be asked is why the Government increased the capital value of the company that is to become the Go-co so that water charges would be increased beyond what is necessary?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: I have no hesitation in saying that I approach these and other regulations and laws from the standpoint of Christian morality. That is my world view. It is my right to have, defend and express that world view. It is my right to allow that world view to influence my decisions, my life and my actions. I share that view with many hundreds of thousands of people across Northern Ireland. The...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: I had given way to Mr Poots.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: The interventions from Sinn Féin Members today have convinced the DUP, yet again, that they have no commitment to the principles of democracy. I too am aware of the current Pope’s comments on homosexuality, as quoted by Mr Poots. I am sure that the Members from both the SDLP and Sinn Féin will brand the current Pope as homophobic for making those remarks. The regulations fly...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: I thank the Member for her intervention. There have been quite a number of barrack-room lawyers in the House today, and none of them have been accurate in what they have said. However, I appreciate the comments from a lawyer.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: Not only has there been inadequate consultation on the matter; the regulations create inequality rather than equality. The European Convention on Human Rights states that the right to hold religious belief is absolute. Consequently, the Government cannot penalise those who for religious reasons hold that homosexuality is wrong or sinful. The Government, and Members opposite, may not like that...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: I require just two seconds Madam Speaker; grant me some latitude for the winding-up speech.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (11 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: The penal laws excluded non-Anglicans from positions of authority in business and politics. The sexual orientation regulations have the potential to exclude from business life and other aspects of society those who hold Christian moral views. That new secular ascendancy will penalise and exclude all those —

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (4 Dec 2006)

George Dawson: Does the hon Member agree that there is an absolute contradiction in Sinn Féin’s position on policing? On the one hand, it says that it supports civic policing, while, on the other, it is scrabbling to get political control of policing.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Secretary of State Motion: Report on Rights, Safeguards, Equality Issues and Victims (26 Sep 2006)

George Dawson: Will the Member give way?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Secretary of State Motion: Report on Rights, Safeguards, Equality Issues and Victims (26 Sep 2006)

George Dawson: I thank the Member for that. European law is in place but, as he will know, section 75 goes further than European law in giving rights to Northern Ireland that do not exist in the rest of the United Kingdom. For example, the issues that councils here have faced in relation to civil partnerships have not been faced in the rest of the United Kingdom. It is section 75 that brings those problems...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Secretary of State Motion: Report on Rights, Safeguards, Equality Issues and Victims (26 Sep 2006)

George Dawson: My colleague Mr McCausland covered a wide range of issues that appear in the report. I take this opportunity to associate myself with his comments. I shall focus on one of the equality issues that comes out of the report — section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. I welcome Mr Nesbitt’s comments, and his analysis of the equality issues in the Preparation for Government...