Alan McFarland: The Member was there at the time, so he knows perfectly well that petitions of concern were introduced in order to stop one side of the unionist/nationalist divide pushing through legislation against the wishes of the other. It was designed as a cross-community protection. It was not designed to protect DUP big hitters from being removed and trying to maximise their vote for party-political...
Alan McFarland: Will the Member give way?
Alan McFarland: Does it not strike the Member as a most unfortunate misuse of the Committee system that if the DUP was going to kill this Bill, it would have been better to kill it stone dead at Second Stage? There is something slightly unfortunate about leading it through Consideration Stage and Further Consideration Stage to Final Stage, at which point, because it did not get its way with amendments, the...
Alan McFarland: Lord Empey pointed out that he had had discussions with an official of the Minister’s Department. That official seemed to indicate that there were other issues that had not been brought to the attention of the House last week by the Minister. I am slightly worried. Perhaps the Minister could answer Lord Empey’s request for clarification as to what the official may have meant by saying...
Alan McFarland: For clarification and because one would need the Firearms Act to understand it, can I confirm that shotguns are already taken care of, which is presumably why they are excluded from this?
Alan McFarland: People may say: if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. [Laughter.]
Alan McFarland: Will the Member accept that all those categories that are set out by the Minister in the Bill — colour, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability — are currently protected in law? Does he agree that people are currently not allowed to discriminate against someone for any of those reasons? The only category not there is that of political opinion,...
Alan McFarland: Will the Member give way?
Alan McFarland: I thank the Member for giving way. Everyone in the Chamber agreed the last time that the definition included all the things that you have read out, except for political opinion. The Minister drew attention to the fact that the Bill contains all those things, except for political opinion. The discussion and the argument were around political opinion. We have all been to events and seen events...
Alan McFarland: The Member talks about legitimate and recognised political expression. For clarification and to help the House, if the sorts of things that we bandy about across the Chamber are legitimate, normal political expression and, therefore, acceptable, can the Member give us an example of what a political opinion that he is seeking to outlaw might consist of, as opposed to the sort of political...
Alan McFarland: I thank the Member for giving way. Forgive me, but I sat through 10 hours of this some weeks back. The Member has said that his aim in bringing forward the amendments is to bring to the attention of judges the mind of the Assembly — I think that that is the way he put it. Is he in any doubt, after the last 10-hour debate, what the mind of the Assembly is? This is déjà vu. We had a lengthy...
Alan McFarland: Forgive me, but as I understand it, the bit that is being included is political opinion. Amendment Nos 5 and 6 enter political opinion into the fray. We had a very lengthy discussion and a vote at the end of it, which showed that the will of the Assembly — a majority in the Assembly — was that political opinion should not be included in the clause. They are reintroducing exactly the same...
Alan McFarland: I was reading the Committee for Justice’s discussions on issues concerning amendment No 33, which are included in the Committee’s report. I try not to be sceptical, but like my colleague Lord Empey, I wonder where the amendment has come from and what it is for. I understand the point about needing to use the assets that are recovered in some way; that is a really good idea. However,...
Alan McFarland: Will the Member give way?
Alan McFarland: I thank the Member for giving way and I am sorry for further taking up his time. Does he recall Mr O’Dowd’s earlier remarks? He said that the great benefit of this definition is that it replicated one that was in the Draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill that fell, and that the benefit is that this will now put on the statute book a definition of sectarianism that can be...
Alan McFarland: I welcome the final sorting-out of the DPP and CSP difficulty. I was a member of the Policing Board when DPPs were set up back in 2002. When the NIO set up CSPs shortly after, there ensued quite a row over who would do what and what the powers would be. That row has wrangled on since then, so I thank the Minister for finally — hopefully — sorting it out. I want to try to get the Minister...
Alan McFarland: 5. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what action her Department has taken to encourage the introduction of red grouse into mountain areas. (AQO 1110/11)
Alan McFarland: I thank the Minister for her answer. How many farmers who are involved with the countryside management scheme intend to help with the regeneration of the red grouse?
Alan McFarland: I thank the Committee for allowing me to sit in as an observer. The Deputy Chairperson will recall that I brought up the issue of dealing. Unfortunately, I did not get to speak today. A deal was done, and it was done with the acquiescence of the Democratic Unionist Party, which, when the Ulster Unionist MP Lady Hermon moved amendments, talked them out, particularly Minister Wilson. The UUP...
Alan McFarland: Will the Member accept that, at a philosophical level in Northern Ireland politics, it is politically unhealthy for parties to have a small number of people having two or three political jobs, regardless of what they are, and that in theory they should start off at council —
