Personal Statement from the First Minister Arlene Foster

Part of Assembly Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 12:00 pm on 14 June 2021.

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Photo of Arlene Foster Arlene Foster DUP 12:00, 14 June 2021

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. As you said, I have tendered my resignation as First Minister of Northern Ireland, effective from 1.00 pm today. I thank you and your office for the opportunity to address the Chamber one last time, and I promise not to sing.

[Laughter.]

Colleagues inside and outside the House know very well that all periods of leadership must come to an end. That is why, when we are privileged and, indeed, honoured to hold such a position, we must not waste a moment in frivolous brinkmanship but forge ahead on behalf of those whom we represent.

Whilst I will miss the exchanges from this seat, I look forward to fresh challenges. This will be my last speech in this forum, but I plan to continue to speak up on behalf of women in public life, as well as our children, by seeking better protections for everyone on social media. When I was at school, bullying occurred, but when children stepped off the bus, their home was a safe place. Today, our young people have no escape. The bullies follow them right into their bedroom, and we must act.

A former Member of the House said to me last week that my closing speech should be in the style of Father Ted Crilly when he received the Golden Cleric award. However, after a moment of reflection, I thought perhaps not. Some of the younger faces here will be puzzled by who Father Ted was and even more puzzled by the name of the award. Suffice to say that, just like all politicians who resign, I will now spend more time with my family. My lovely mum, my darling husband and my three beloved children will see more of me, whether they like it or not.

[Laughter.]

It is just as well that I am such a good daughter, wife and mother. Those of us in public life know that we cannot fully function without the support of our loved ones, and I have had that support in abundance.

I wish my successors as party leader and First Minister well. I thank politicians from right across the political spectrum for their good wishes. I have been overwhelmed: even some in the naughty corner found something good to say. If only we had said all those nice things two years ago, it would have saved us a lot of time.

My reflections today will be broader more than personal, with an eye to the future of the Assembly and Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. My time as Northern Ireland's First Minister may have come to a close abruptly, but I remain someone with a passion for service, Northern Ireland and the Union. This particular chapter may be closing, but I intend to write some more in the years ahead, for I have unfinished business to ensure that Northern Ireland succeeds in its new century. I believe strongly in the good sense of the people of Northern Ireland to continue to recognise the value of our place in the United Kingdom as a distinctive and integral element of that union of nations. That UK has seen us through the worst ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented financial support, our incomparable National Health Service and a national vaccination programme that is the envy of the rest of the world.

As you are aware, Mr Speaker, I was first elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2003. Since then, I have had the great privilege to be a representative of Fermanagh and South Tyrone: my home constituency and somewhere, with its diverse population and beautiful countryside, of which I am tremendously proud. I was pleased to show it off one last time as First Minister when the deputy First Minister and I hosted the British-Irish Council (BIC) meeting on Friday past. In 2007, when devolution returned, I was appointed Minister of the Environment, and, from there, I went on to become Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. It was a role that I loved, as it allowed me to speak positively about, and be an advocate for, Northern Ireland across the world. The highlight was 2012, when we showcased Northern Ireland during the Our Time Our Place campaign. Transforming Invest Northern Ireland, building up our tourism industry, inviting international investors to come to Northern Ireland, and creating more and better jobs for our young people are all achievements that I look back on with pride.

Oscar Wilde, who was educated in Fermanagh at Portora Royal School, suggested:

"a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

Throughout my time in Enterprise and since, I have continuously been impressed by the ingenuity, innovation and aspiration of all our people, but especially our young people. I say this to those potential young leaders: hold on to your dreams, because, by doing so, you are halfway there.

I was appointed to the Finance and Personnel Ministry in 2015 and then, in January 2016, became First Minister of Northern Ireland, which is something that a little girl growing up in Fermanagh could scarcely have countenanced. I trust that my contribution has served as an encouragement to others, and the role of females in public life is something that I will continue to champion.

Following the 2016 Assembly election, I agreed a joint statement for the newly elected Executive with the then deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness. That was commonly described as a joint commitment to getting down to business. It was a statement of intent to focus on the issues of common concern rather than on the wedges that can divide and to show once and for all that devolution could deliver change, not just more of the same. It is my deepest regret that the opportunity to fulfil that purpose was denied by a series of events. When faced with false allegations of corruption, I defended myself vigorously to clear my name. No one should have to tolerate such assaults on their character, but misleading interviews and salacious claims that would not survive the glare of an inquiry created a febrile atmosphere that coincided with the declining health of Martin McGuinness. The result? A crisis that led to the unnecessary loss of devolution. Those were lost years for Northern Ireland, and it was a period when public services inevitably slumped backwards. Alongside ongoing negotiations to restore devolution, where no sign of a workable agreement was evident, we secured the Democratic Unionist Party's confidence-and-supply agreement to help fill the political vacuum and public-service consequences.

Over £1 billion extra in resources was provided in those years in key areas such as health, education and jobs, but the solutions that it provided and the difficulties that it mitigated were still outstripped by the problems from having no functioning Assembly or Executive.

That confidence-and-supply agreement will leave a legacy but also highlights our challenges. Some £150 million has been rolled out via Project Stratum to bring broadband to rural areas and leave Northern Ireland as the best-connected region in Europe. When it is completed, the project will be transformational to our economy. We ensured that the purse strings were loosened by the Treasury to enable £500 million to be used to help shared housing and education schemes. We delivered £50 million over five years to help mental health. I note that that money has been critical in recent announcements by the Health Minister. Mental health must be a priority for the House because it touches all of us.

For all those like me who queue along the Westlink each morning, there was £160 million funding to build the York Street interchange. Yet, like too many projects, it has been tied up in legal wrangles. Too many infrastructure projects are being swallowed up in the courts. We need to improve the expertise in infrastructure delivery. We need better infrastructure for the next generation, but key projects being delayed by 10-plus years is unsustainable.

The confidence-and-supply agreement delivered a ring-fenced £200 million for transformation projects in our health service. That money was used just in advance of the pandemic and, undoubtedly, helped to bolster the health service. Rather than just spending more money, we need to dedicate money to look solely at how the health service can do things better. That must continue.

The long and tortuous negotiations between 2017 and 2020 ultimately delivered the New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) agreement. Any agreement involves compromises but NDNA had two central pillars that, I believe, remain important: ambition for devolution and a new cultural deal. The breadth and depth of issues that NDNA set us all to deliver on would have been enough to fill an entire term or perhaps more, let alone two years of government. However, we had much to make up for from the lost years. We needed to use the momentum of a new agreement to push Northern Ireland forward as quickly as we could to get down to business.

However, once again, events intervened. As we restarted devolution, the new and deadly COVID virus was beginning to spread and would sweep across the entire world. It was an unprecedented challenge for us all at every level and in every aspect of our lives, but it was a challenge that we needed to face up to and rise to together. As we gradually emerged from its shadow, we began to raise our eyes to how we could drive the COVID recovery forward, with much of what we set out in NDNA being relevant. The opportunity to contribute directly and lead that recovery will be for others.

The second core component of NDNA is the new cultural deal. The issues of culture and identity have been a running sore through the past few decades, which is why a cultural package was needed in order to move forward comprehensively and sustainably. I repeat that it is a cultural package: far too many in the Assembly and outside it present its content as one-dimensional, when it never was and never could be. That contributes to a negative and unhelpful public discourse when we have proposals to advance all. Too often, a demand to advance Irish identity and the language of equality saw simultaneous calls to reduce or denigrate other forms of expression. That was always a destabilising approach in a society that is seeking healing. It risks simply creating a new dispossessed community. The cycle needs to be broken. That is why my team and I sought and secured a cultural package that would see a range of measures to advance identities and protect them for future generations. That was the only model for success — not one step forward for some and one step back for others. That will be the basis for sharing this place that we all cherish and take pride in.

The package includes an office of identity and cultural expression and an Ulster-British commissioner, underpinned by legislation. It includes support to celebrate, commemorate and reflect on Northern Ireland's centenary. It sees legal and institutional protections for veterans. It includes harmonisation of flag days. It will build for the future with the Castlereagh Foundation. It includes new and broader investment for Ulster-Scots broadcasting, and, yes, it also includes a commissioner for the Irish language.

The recommendations of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) are to be taken forward as well. I encourage all of you to do all of it, to take it forward in its totality and to speak of and implement it as one complete, independent package: a new cultural deal for Northern Ireland's new century.

Let us realise in every corner of the House that people live here who have an Irish identity or a British identity and there are some who have a British and an Irish identity. Some are British and Northern Irish, and new identities are emerging, but, for all of us, this is a place called home. We can poke each other in the eye and have a competition of "My identity is better than yours", but it is only by respecting each other's identity that we will move forward. The beauty of the Union is that we can have all our identities and live here side by side.

My last major event was, as I said, the British-Irish Council, hosted in my home county of Fermanagh. Those who attended got to see its beauty and to enjoy its warm welcome. The BIC is built on equal recognition and respect for a range of political institutions across the British Isles. Each is given their place, each voice is valued and each makes their contribution, and the balance is what makes it work. Sadly, broader politics in Northern Ireland — between the UK and Ireland and the UK and the EU — is out of balance: an imbalance created by the protocol. In any negotiation, when one of those at the table is perceived as weak, the clear temptation is for others to take full advantage. However, such short-term advantage comes at the cost of long-term harm to relationships. It is not a real partnership. Imbalance and instability are built in that will fester and deteriorate. If Brussels continues to think that the protocol is enough, it is in denial. Imbalance and instability in the context of Northern Ireland is a truly dangerous cocktail. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and needs to be treated as such. If the EU does not do that, the UK will have a practical, political and moral obligation to act to protect the everyday life of everyone in Northern Ireland.

I may no longer be in a position of political leadership, Mr Speaker, but rest assured that I will contribute in whatever way I can to see Northern Ireland advance socially, politically, economically and culturally as part of the UK. I firmly believe that strong, functioning and successful devolution is vital to that and to building the success of Northern Ireland and what it is capable of in its new century.

Samuel Beckett — also educated in Fermanagh — wrote in 'Waiting for Godot':

"Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed."

He continued:

"But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it".

Let us be generous. Our Lord taught us the parable of the Good Samaritan, and I am sure that we have all heard it. Remember that two people passed by. They closed their eyes to the injured Jewish man. I have not always made the right calls; none of us is perfect. At the end of the parable, Our Lord asks, "Who is your neighbour?" — the one who stopped to offer help. Remember, stopping meant the Samaritan reaching out across the religious divide and meant him reaching into his own pocket and paying a price to provide shelter for the injured man. Our Lord concludes the parable by saying, "Go and do likewise." Mr Speaker, let us be good neighbours. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Over and out.

[Applause.]