I am not a member of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure, but I support the report. I have a long-time vested interest in cultural tourism. Many years ago, perhaps to my own discredit, I promoted, in the Omagh District Council area, the idea of basing a 51-mile trail on the inspirational points and places of W F Marshall, who was one of the first people to broadcast on the BBC in Northern Ireland. He was an academic of great power. He made a special contribution to the literary world by recognising that the area in which he lived in mid-Tyrone had a unique and distinctive dialect. So distinct was it, as indicated by his research, that W F Marshall was commissioned by the BBC to assist in the production of Shakespeare's great play 'As You Like It' in the original language of Shakespeare, which is recognised as being the mid-Tyrone dialect. Given that vested interest and the strong call that was made for the retention of townlands, I commend the Committee on the excellent report.

However, no methodology for retaining townlands was suggested. I have struggled with the issue for many years in my council area, where townlands have been eliminated and replaced by manufactured road names. I live seven miles from Omagh, in the village of Beragh. That seven-mile area is known by one name - Donaghanie - but it is made up of 11 townlands. I have encouraged Omagh District Council to insert the names of townlands in red print on road signs. It is a greater expense, but the council receives sponsorship for the project. A practical effort must be made.

I have encouraged other community groups to use local stones to mark out townland boundaries, but permission for that is required from the Department of the Environment and the Department for Regional Development's Roads Service. I know that the Minister would be interested in supporting that idea.

Much criticism has been levelled at the Tourist Board, but everyone can contribute in his own area. Local pride and heritage can be brought to the fore and utilised as an important tourist product. In the town that I represent, the names of such musical geniuses as Dominic Kirwan, Brian Coll and numerous showbands are written large in history. The same applies to local poets such as John Montague, Benedict Kiely, Matt Mulcahy, R L Marshall and W F Marshall. Every area has similarly well-known people. Mid-Tyrone did not have tourism potential until it used the inspirational points of the 51-mile Marshall trail through unspoilt, undiluted, unpolluted countryside. That rural quietude brings tranquillity to visitors from the concrete conurbations.

I support the report, and I advocate that the Minister encourage the practical, rather than aspirational, retention of townland names. It can be done, and I encourage him to treat the matter seriously. Northern Ireland obtained the concept of townlands from Sudan. The idea was imported during the third and fourth centuries, when Coptic traders arrived at the Shannon and other estuary rivers. Townlands are particular to Ireland and north Sudan. Let us retain a custom that is almost unique to Northern Ireland, so that we can give it a special focus as part of our cultural heritage.

I welcome the Committee's report, and I acknowledge its breadth. Its 56 recommendations offer a means to maximise the potential of cultural tourism and the arts in Northern Ireland. It will come as no surprise to the House that, given the substantial number of recommendations and considering the short time that I have had the report, I shall want to give it more detailed consideration before I make my formal reply to the Committee. Moreover, some of the recommendations fall to other Ministers, and I shall wish to consult them before responding. However, by way of early comment, I welcome the Committee's recognition of the importance of the arts in adding value to cultural tourism and of the extent to which the arts can enrich our lives and make positive economic and social contributions to the development of Northern Ireland.

Recognition of culture as an economic generator is not a new concept. It is being employed in parts of Europe - Bilbao and Rotterdam spring to mind. It is a tool - an economic generator - that has been highly successful in those areas, and I am certain that we can use it to good effect in Northern Ireland. Many Members have mentioned the areas that we can utilise to create economic well-being as well as to enhance our image and self-esteem.

I also welcome the Committee's pragmatism in its approach to issues such as sustainability and long-term viability. We have already witnessed the difficulties that have occurred in projects such as the St Patrick Centre in Downpatrick and the Navan Centre in Armagh. The need for financial rigour, as well as intellectual rigour, for projects such as those is essential, and their absence will almost certainly lead to sustainability problems. The importance of properly addressing that issue is essential if some of the opportunities identified in the report are to be brought to fruition. Too often with such projects the capital investment can be found, but not enough consideration is given to the revenue consequences and the fact that many of the projects will create an annual revenue deficit for several years. If the number of visitors is not estimated realistically, we are liable to run into problems, as we have done at the Navan Centre and the St Patrick Centre.

The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is addressing issues that are particularly relevant to it. Those include the welcome focus on the development of the Titanic Quarter and the telling of the Titanic story. With that in mind, I urge Committee members to visit the Thompson dry dock to see its potential and that of the surrounding area in order to promote Belfast's industrial, maritime and aviation centre. For those who are not familiar with the story, the Thompson dry dock was built in 1910 and is an awesome piece of space. It was extended by 30ft to allow the Titanic to squeeze in, and it sits down there just as it was built. We should look at how we can develop that to retain the dry dock features and the pump house that sits alongside it and at how we can use it to tell the Titanic story. Belfast is the only city in the world that can tell that story.

HMS Caroline is currently in the Alexandra dock. It is a 1914, first world war, light cruiser built for the Royal Navy. It is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland and is a priceless and irreplaceable artefact. The ship is of the Titanic era and built in Titanic fashion; much of it was rivet built. We have huge potential there, and I urge the Committee to look at that.

Next door to that, the Belfast Harbour Commissioners plan to develop a portion of the wharf to enable large cruise liners to dock in Belfast. We have all that potential sitting cheek by jowl with the science park. The Nomadic has been mentioned. Two tenders were especially built to carry passengers from Cherbourg out to the Titanic, and one of those was the Nomadic. It looks like a mini Titanic, and it would be a wonderful asset if it were situated in Belfast. However, the Department has looked at moving it from Paris, and there are major cost implications. Extra bridges have been built over the Seine, where it sits, and it would mean sinking the ship to take it below the bridges. There would be major engineering difficulties in retrieving the ship from Paris and major resource implications too. When it was being considered I envisaged difficulty in finding resources. However, the Department will keep it in mind.

Promoting the cultural quarter concept, art and public spaces, accessibility to arts facilities and the development of cultural product in theatre, dance and music are also to be welcomed as is the identification of roots tourism in the international genealogy market. The Public Records Office will play a central role in that. I recently hosted an event in the Long Gallery for overseas visitors for just that type of tourism. Digitising records will play a key role as they become an easily accessible resource through new technology to visitors to the Internet.

Those are ideas that the Public Records Office and other areas of the Department are very much aware of and aligned to. We feel strongly about getting new technology into various areas. The Assembly saw the first part of that initiative with the electronic libraries for Northern Ireland (ELFNI) project early in 2002. That was a £36 million contract to develop computer technology in all our libraries. That is a step forward because those computers will play a major part in future for genealogy and other interests that visitors might have.

Furthermore, the Department is making progress on the development of language and the use of the arts to explore our common heritage, and I welcome, in principle, the identification of the need for a dedicated art gallery. However, that has a major cost implication, to which I shall return. I am pleased that the report acknowledged the importance of specific managed events alongside, for example, locally organised festivals to encourage tourism.

Several Members referred to the importance of district councils. Much work is being done there. The Department is working through the cultural forum to ensure that each of the 26 district councils will have local cultural strategies that complement one another and have the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure's overall aims in its publications. That is happening and is an area of activity that will ensure that councils complement the Department's aims as set out in 'Face to Face', the sector's vision for arts, for culture and for unlocking creativity. The cultural forum has a key role to play in providing a broader approach to help deliver much of what is contained in the report.

Mr McCarthy and others, such as Mr Gibson, talked about townland names. Recently, during Question Time, I referred to the common address file project, which will enable townland names to be added to addresses. The Department now has funding to get the common address file into operation, and that will ensure that Government Departments and councils use it initially and that there will be a ready bridge across from the townland names archive straight into the common address file. The Department has the means to do that - and it has the will to do it.

The report's recommendations on creative industry align with the Department's work and with that of the interdepartmental creativity action group. In particular, support to enable the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission to develop the sector is being pursued by my Colleagues and me through Executive programme funds. The Arts Council also fulfils a co-ordinating role in the craft sector, which, although it is not featured in the report, is another important element of cultural tourism. It appears that some issues are not covered in the report.

We are all aware that money makes everything possible. The report rightly identified funding as being critical to future development. However, the report stopped short of quantifying any of the costs associated with the areas identified for the development and of offering any practical view on from where future funding might be obtained.

For example, the museum of sea and sky and the museum of creative arts could cost in the region of £100 million, as could the Ulster canal and the Lagan navigation projects combined. If the money were there, we could deliver everything that is contained in the report. However, we must live within our means, and expectations must be realistic.

There are ways to find that money. We must be imaginative and inventive, but we must also understand that the Executive and Government cannot simply write cheques for those amounts. On top of the capital amount is the resource implication after construction. Those areas need careful examination and investigation. It taxes me greatly, but we are actively considering funding options. Unless the resources are found, we cannot deliver what we are talking about and looking for. We cannot satisfy expectations, but we are aware of the value of cultural tourism as an economic driver.

The bid for 2008 Capital of Culture and the potential of sport as a key component of our culture did not feature in the report, nor is there any acknowledgement of the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast and the "hub" concept - something else on which we are actively working. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is also conducting major tourism reviews. Several Members mentioned the Tourist Board. The Department takes the views expressed seriously. A major tourism review is under way, and Belfast City Council is also undertaking a review, but neither is mentioned in the report. I am sure that the Committee will be anxious to look at those reports when they are published.

The report is an important step forward. I commend the Committee for the effort that has gone into it. I shall give the Committee a detailed response to the report in due course, and I look forward to working closely with Committee members to see what might realistically be delivered.

I welcome all the contributions made on the report and thank all Members for their time and consideration.

One issue that sprang to mind from several contributions, especially that of the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee, was the definition of culture. She used the UNESCO definition, which reminded me of the visit that some Committee members made to Kanturk to attend a culture conference in County Cork. At the conference, an academic from Wales described culture as "the central thing". She also said that in Welsh, the closest interpretation of the word for "culture" describes the move from being wild to being civilised. That is an interesting concept about culture and its meaning.

The enthusiasm with which Committee members have responded to the report in this debate indicates the level of work that the Committee had undertaken. I thank them once again for all that work.

The Deputy Chairperson mentioned a good example of where we, as a community, can fail in dealing with the concept of cultural tourism when she mentioned the Pennsylvanian millionaires.

It is a great pity that such opportunities - and we know of many - go a-begging because we have no facility to take advantage of them.

Mrs Nelis rightly highlighted the Northern Ireland Tourist Board's annual summary of attractions. Although the Committee was concerned about the clear shortcomings of that important data, it was more concerned about the board's method of gathering it. The report emphasises that that methodology must be examined and improved. The Tourist Board wrote to various organisations to request information, but it published only the details that it was given. That procedure is hardly suitable to provide an educated and scientific understanding of what is happening.

Ian Adamson's insight and knowledge made a tremendous contribution to our debate and the preparation of the report. He spoke accurately about the alienation and break-up of communities and the lack of proper regeneration strategies. The definition of alienation as "the absence of culture" was also heard in Kanturk. That is an interesting thought. Dr Adamson highlighted the importance of making an inventory of our heritage, built and otherwise. Without that proper identification, we cannot preserve and care for the most important elements of our heritage. Local trails and tours were among the recommendations that the Committee sought.

David Hilditch referred to the criticism that was made of the Tourist Board. A pattern of criticism ran throughout the report, and it is right that Members should highlight it. The Tourist Board had major problems in addition to the current criticisms of it. The criticism was made by those who gave evidence, rather than by Committee members. Mr Hilditch was correct: almost everyone had a criticism to make. I recall only one positive comment, and that may have come from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The report might have included a few criticisms of that body. The Committee reflects the weight of evidence, and it is part of its job to listen to practitioners and other witnesses, put together their views coherently and constructively and present them to the Minister and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

Kieran McCarthy, whom we all recognise as the champion of townland names, again made a good case. Unfortunately, Oliver Gibson is not present, but I thank him for his interesting and valuable contribution. It would be good if townlands could be incorporated into rural road signs to inform a traveller that he is leaving one townland and entering another. Mr Gibson said that our suggestion was aspirational; on the contrary, it was a clear and definite recommendation of usage by all Departments and official organs. That is not aspirational; it is practical. Its achievement would be a major step towards our goal. The Minister correctly referred to the common address file project, and the Committee recommended that that be supported. Once that is in place, there will be no excuse for not using townland names.

Frazer Agnew spoke with considerable passion about the poor record that we have for preserving and restoring our old linen mills and machinery. A great deal of work is happening elsewhere to preserve such heritage, but we seem to be relentless in our neglect of the infrastructure, and Mr Agnew's comments reflect the Committee's concerns.

Mr Agnew also made a telling point about the accessibility of heritage sites. We are not very good at signposting, but if we put our minds to it, we should be able to address those problems.

Jim Wilson concentrated on our image problem. Internationally, what image do people have of us? What films do they see that are made in Northern Ireland about Northern Ireland? What documentaries do they see? Unfortunately, the negative image invariably comes across, and Mr Wilson is right to draw our attention to that. Reported news must be the truth, but the Committee's report attempts to get people to focus on the positive qualities of life here.

Jim Shannon made an interesting contribution and, once again, demonstrated the wealth of cultural diversity here by using Ulster Scots in his introduction. I thank him for that. He referred to the need for a cultural strategy to set goals and objectives and to galvanise all those involved.

Ivan Davis referred to the low attendance during most of the debate. I was delighted to hear that the Republic of Ireland won 3 - 0, and I congratulate the team. It is hard to blame Members who wanted to watch the match, but we cannot use that excuse every day on which attendance is low. More Members are here now - perhaps something of interest is to begin shortly.

Ivan Davis also highlighted the idea of a heritage day. I hope that people consider that closely as a neat recommendation that could do much to create the image that we want to project, as opposed to the negative image that we have.

I thank the Minister for his full attention. I recognise his interest in the Committee's work and thank him for his support for the majority of our recommendations. He commented on the financial implications of some of them, and it seemed as though he had not considered fully the financial recommendations that we made. However, when the Committee considers them more closely with the Department, the Minister may realise that they contain a lot of financial detail. We hope to widen the possibilities because the funding recommendations contain opportunities for us to consider imaginative approaches. We recognise that the proposals could be expensive, but many of the recommendations could be fulfilled at little cost. We need to focus our resources and commitment better on what we want to achieve. It is possible. I commend the report.

Incident at Belfast Institute of Further and
Higher Education, Tower Street Campus

Madam Deputy Speaker:

I have received notice from the Minister for Employment and Learning that she wishes to make a statement on an incident at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education's Tower Street campus on 7 June 2002.

I wish to make a brief statement about the events at a campus of the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education last week.

At around 11.00 am on Friday 7 June, an incident occurred at the Tower Street campus of the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education during which staff and students were subjected to disgraceful and degrading behaviour. I understand that the details of the incident are under investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and for that reason I do not wish to engage in any discussion of them. I am sure that the Assembly will join me in unequivocally condemning the incident and in demanding respect for the essential neutrality of all educational establishments.

Our society has suffered extensively from civil disorder for over three decades. We should be thankful that during that time, with a few notable exceptions, universities, colleges and schools have been allowed to carry out their task of educating children, young people and more mature students without fear or favour. That has particularly been the case in respect of further education, which by its nature provides educational opportunities to all sections of the community in its numerous campuses and outreach centres.

That neutrality was breached on Friday morning, when staff and students were interrupted by an incursion by people from outside whose interest was palpably not in further education and training. Such behaviour has no place in any decent society and no place in the neutral surroundings of any educational establishment.

At a time when the stresses and strains of examinations should be the only consideration for students and staff, it is unacceptable that any institution should have to close its buildings, reschedule its examinations and help staff and students cope with the experience of sectarian threats. The Assembly should be united in its unequivocal condemnation of the events of last Friday.

I trust that the experiences of staff and students will not deflect any of them from achieving the grades and results that they need for their careers or their educational progress. My thoughts, support and sympathy go out to the management, staff and students of the Tower Street campus.

I appeal to the communities in east Belfast, and, indeed, in all areas, to preserve the essential neutrality of educational establishments, which are designed to meet their needs irrespective of religion or political opinion. I am heartened by the fact that several local community leaders have already visited the Tower Street campus to express their regret that such an incident took place and to demonstrate their support for the staff and students. I will visit the campus when the management and staff consider it appropriate.

I conclude by reiterating my unequivocal condemnation of that action and by underlining the principle of respect for the neutrality of educational establishments.

I am very pleased that the Minister has made her statement, and I concur with what she said. I also agree with the statement of one of the relevant teachers' unions, the NASUWT, on 10 June, that the action was reprehensible because of the successful way in which further education colleges have integrated Protestant and Catholic students over many years.

Will it be necessary for the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education and other further education colleges around the Province to take extra security measures? If that is the case, what are the budgetary implications, and how would the Department respond to the extra financial strain?

I hope that this is an isolated incident. No one wants to make fortresses out of colleges or any educational establishments. All colleges consider their security requirements and take whatever steps are necessary to protect staff and students in their local communities. The college at Tower Street has already engaged one further security person. I am not aware of the financial implications.

The behaviour referred to is completely unacceptable. I draw attention to an incident in the Holy Land area of Belfast where an attack on a young student from County Fermanagh, Marius Rooney, took place. He is still seriously ill, and I am sure all Members hope that he will make a good recovery. Does the Minister agree that that behaviour is reprehensible and that we need to redouble our efforts to bring those who carry out such attacks to justice?

Sadly, attacks on individuals are increasing. I know of the attack on that young man about 10 days ago. He is still seriously ill. I do not know the circumstances, but I am aware that some of the attacks have sectarian undertones. Some of them are just a sad reflection of the increase in crime on our streets. I agree with the Member that we totally and utterly condemn all these attacks, regardless of motive.

We all concur that such behaviour is unacceptable. I would highlight the difference in attitudes between the Minister for Employment and Learning and the Minister of Education when schoolchildren wearing their school uniforms were attacked in Strabane by so-called supporters of the Irish football team.

When schoolchildren could not enter Londonderry city centre because they were wearing certain school uniforms the Minister of Education did not appear before the House. I thank the Minister for Employment and Learning for bringing this matter to the House and making it clear that sectarianism is unacceptable in the school place and that sectarian attacks on schoolchildren are also unacceptable. I wish the Minister of Education would take a leaf out of the book of the Minister for Employment and Learning.

Sectarian attacks are wrong and unacceptable, regardless of the location or the person involved.

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Has the Minister been advised that this is not the first instance of students and staff being threatened at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education's Tower Street campus? The fine arts examination was cancelled. Will the Minister give special consideration to their students who will have to resit their examinations? What measures did the board of governors have in place to protect the students and staff, who had to lock themselves in classrooms for protection?

Most examinations were relocated to other campuses. I assume that special arrangements will be made for any students who were unable to sit their examinations.

I am not aware of any other attacks on Tower Street, but I am conscious that, sadly, over the past 30 years there have been at least five brutal attacks on people in education establishments. A headmaster was killed in his classroom, a school bus driver was killed and a classroom was booby-trapped, resulting in the death of a policeman. Lecturer Edgar Graham was killed outside Queen's University, and a lecturer at the Magherafelt campus of the North East Institute of Further and Higher Education was murdered in his classroom. Perhaps even more such sad events have occurred.

I thank the Minister for the statement, but I am concerned that, given the serious nature of the incident, the statement was not made in the House yesterday. The fact that young students were lined up against a wall and asked their religion, no matter what that religion might be, shows the depths to which this society has sunk. Will the Minister co-operate with the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Education because this matter concerns agencies other than her own Department?

Signs are being put up on the walls on the routes to the college and to schools that say "No Taigs from Short Strand beyond this point". If such signs were put up referring to Protestants, every Member would condemn them.

School principals have told me that they are concerned that this September students will not attend the Tower Street campus and that they may have to find courses elsewhere. Principals are concerned that these young students have only one option and that they now have nowhere to go. What arrangements has the Minister put in place to address this problem?

Alternative arrangements have been made for staff and students. I expect that special arrangements will be made for all those students. I will personally look into the matter if there is a problem. I apologise that the statement was not made yesterday.

The atmosphere is very tense in some parts of Northern Ireland, especially in Belfast. I will co-operate with all Departments and do anything I can to alleviate that tension.

I join with the Minister in condemning the appalling incident at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education in Tower Street. In the light of our common concern for neutrality in our education establishments, what steps are being taken to ensure that Queen's University and its Students' Union become less of a cold house for Protestants and Unionists?

It is up to everyone, especially those of us in leadership roles, to work together to ensure that all students feel comfortable in all our establishments.

The incident in Tower Street highlights the whole issue of sectarianism in this city and throughout our society, and this House must take the matter seriously. We must address it vigorously, as if it were a disease that affects us all. It is insufficient to respond to one incident. We must develop a strategy for dealing with sectarianism no matter where it manifests itself - in the classroom, in colleges, or in the street. We must deal with it.

The Minister has emphasised the sacrosanct nature of neutrality in an educational establishment. Is there any danger, as a result of this sectarian incident, that the future of the Tower Street campus might be under threat? Also, will those students whose examinations have had to be relocated get a sympathetic marking to compensate for the trauma that they clearly and manifestly went through as a result of this incident?

There is no question of relocating the Tower Street campus, and I would expect any students experiencing difficulties with their examinations because of this incident to get a sympathetic hearing.

Sectarianism is a contagious disease in this society. Unfortunately, we have a certain tolerance of a level of sectarianism in our everyday life, and we must proactively work together if we are to eradicate this disease.

I apologise sincerely to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to the House for my mobile phone ringing unceremoniously this afternoon.

I am heartened, as the Minister is, by the fact that some local community leaders have already visited Tower Street campus to express their regret that such an incident should take place, and have offered their support to all the staff and students. One has to condemn any sort of irresponsibility from whatever gang, or from wherever, and any form of intimidation. If such behaviour escalates, then there is trouble ahead.

This may be beyond the Minister's remit; it is more to do with education. For many years, students from controlled schools in County Fermanagh have suffered intimidation when going home on school buses to border areas. Undoubtedly, this has eased a little, but it has been a difficult situation for many of them.

Is the Minister aware of the intimidation that grammar school pupils suffered recently in Strabane when the Republic won its football match? I congratulate the Republic on the win, but some people are using and abusing the situation.

Many of us are aware of issues of sectarianism in our communities. It is not any respecter of place, person, or religion - it happens in all areas and to all people. However, until we work together, seriously and proactively, we will not eradicate this scourge.

I concur with the Minister's sentiments. Will she offer to us her knowledge of the police assessment that she must have received on any paramilitary involvement in the attack on the Tower Street campus? Since she is unable to give us details of previous attacks, will she also confirm why we should have had such an occurrence after thirty years of nothing?

Will the Minister look at the constituency in which Tower Street falls? Will she consider that conditions may have existed that certainly do not encourage me to condone what happened, but which may be a symptom rather than a cause? There is a greater cause; is the Minister aware of it?

I said that an investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland is taking place, so it would not be appropriate to comment on that.

Why is this happening? It is happening because we have a problem with sectarianism in this society. I hope that everyone would join me in condemning unequivocally this outrageous incident, regardless of any background, "what abouts" or "wherefores".

I welcome the Minister's initiative in making a statement on this issue, and I support the content of her statement. Elected representatives have a duty to speak out on issues, whether it is convenient for them to do so or not. The intimidation of people who are attempting to get an education is reprehensible. I am sure that the whole House accepts that that procedure is totally unacceptable in any civilised society. Therefore, I have no reservation in my condemnation.

The Minister has expressed the hope that it would be an isolated incident; that is also my hope. My hope is somewhat raised by the fact that all of my findings suggest that there was nothing organised about this event. There appears to have been no involvement of any paramilitary organisation. It is more likely to be the result of the reaction of people in the area, which is currently tense as a result of the IRA-orchestrated violence in that part of east Belfast. Like the Minister, I trust that there will be no reoccurrence of the incident and that there will be no detriment to the education of the people involved.

I welcome the Member's statement and his unequivocal condemnation of this act.

Erection of Unauthorised Terrorist Memorials

I beg to move

The motion is important to the many relatives of those who were foully murdered by the terrorists who held this land to ransom for many years.

The erection of forms of memorial to those who for decades wrought havoc and destruction on the people of this state is, at least, highly offensive, in-your-face and profoundly insulting. It is uncaring, uncompassionate and grossly irresponsible. It is an offensive taunt to a community which has suffered broken hearts, broken limbs and broken homes and been left with heartbroken widows, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters and many orphans.

Sinn Féin still lauds, and associates with, the gunman and the murderer, despite the fact that its members now act in Government here in Stormont, as Ministers acting on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen in this part of her realm.

The preponderance of different types of memorials in Fermanagh intends to rile and hurt. The memorials are not intended for the purposes of respect - only for abuse. The most terrible lie is not that which is uttered but that which is lived.

There will be a plea on behalf of heroes today, but can anyone in the Chamber who professes adherence to a faith and belief in the Living Lord call terrorists "heroes" or "sons of the brave"? Could those who blew two of my colleagues to pieces outside Enniskillen one night many years ago be called heroes? I remember Alfie Johnston and Jimmy Eames well.

What about the terrorists who murdered Mrs Bullock at her doorway, and then went into her home and murdered her husband Tommy? What about those who went into the Earl of Erne County Primary School at Teemore and murdered the school principal, George Saunderson, as he had a cup of tea? What about those who murdered Alexander Abercrombie as he sat on his tractor, or those who murdered Willie Burleigh when he attended an auction? What about those who bravely murdered Tommy John Fletcher at Garrison, or those who murdered John McVitty at Magheraveely as he did his farming chores? What about those who brutally murdered my cousin, Charlie Johnston, in cold blood near St Anne's Cathedral as he, a director of a travel agency in Waring Street, walked to his work? What about those who set off the Enniskillen bomb on Remembrance Day in 1987? I was present at the cenotaph on that day of carnage. Two people died in my hands. I tried to console them as they bled to death. Twelve people died in that atrocity.

What about the terrorists who caused the La Mon House Hotel hell-on-earth inferno? What about the Shankill Road bomb, Teebane Cross, the Ballygawley bus bomb, the murder of the soldiers at Narrow Water Castle, or the Kingsmills murders? What about all the individual murders that have taken place over the years? What about the Omagh bomb activists, who may eventually seek to be called heroes at some time in the future?

We had ethnic cleansing in my constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. I have only referred to some of the many dastardly acts of murder and aggression perpetrated on citizens of that community by terrorists over the years - terrorists who are now being hailed as heroes by Sinn Féin.

Terrorists - either so-called Loyalists or Republicans - can never be accorded hero status by any decent individual. It is grossly offensive and insulting to many people in Northern Ireland.

The Hassard and Love families in the Belleek area of Fermanagh are grievously mortified by the erection of the memorial to terrorists beside where their loved ones were assassinated coming home from doing an honest day's work. Is that action not in-your-face offensive? I must emphasise that point - it certainly is in-your-face offensive.

Since then, another memorial has been erected in Enniskillen to the memory of Bobby Sands. It is on the site where a memorial to those who died during the famine had been solemnly dedicated a couple of years ago. The words "respect", "honesty" and "decency" are not in the thinking of Republicanism - they never were, and they never will be. This is just about Sinn Féin becoming the largest anti-British party in Northern Ireland at the expense of anyone who gets in its way. It has no scruples; it rides roughshod over the feelings of everyone, regardless of the hurt caused.

I appreciate that the blood relatives of those who have lost their lives mourn the deaths of their loved ones. However, it seems that that mourning should only happen when Sinn Féin dictates and in a way that it determines. That is shameful. Does anyone believe that the erection of a memorial to a terrorist on unhallowed ground will ease the pain for the relatives? Is that sacrilege?

Republicanism does that to seek political gain at the expense of the relatives who mourn the death of their flesh and blood. What sacrilege is being played out by those who profess innocence while making lying accusations of harassment in Northern Ireland?

I have been prepared to give those who have sinned in the eyes of the Almighty the opportunity to show repentance and remorse for their association with evil deeds over the past decades - for the well-being of this state and within the family of Britons. They have failed miserably to do so. They have been given a chance to redeem themselves and to show good, honest citizenship. But no - they want their pound of flesh, and they disregard the feelings of those around them.

They have been given the opportunity to serve in Executive positions in the Assembly, despite the fact that over the years they have associated with those who endeavoured to destroy this country, burned its towns and villages, and murdered and maimed our people. I say to them: look at the hands of those you call heroes. They are stained with the blood of our loved ones and their loved ones. Can they have a conscience at all? Can they barefacedly go on with their deceit and unadulterated, undiluted hypocrisy?

Those people have ignored at least three Departments - and, indeed, law and order - in their erection of offensive memorials. However, they expound here regularly, superficially filled with pretence about other issues. The Department of the Environment - my former Department - the Department for Regional Development, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development must ensure that their responsibilities are not eroded and overrun by Republican stridency. The Department for Social Development is also involved. Departments cannot be seen to fail their remit or their responsibilities.

Monuments, by their very nature, are political statements. Those wildcat memorials are inimical to the healing process that Sinn Féin purports to espouse. They stir up hatreds, bitter memories, and fears and feelings that we all hoped that we could leave behind.

Evidence of Sinn Féin's being involved in stirring up community strife in places such as north Belfast, its involvement with the terrorists and drug dealers of FARC in Colombia, and its active links with other international terrorist groups, all of which is attested to by independent outside bodies and not only Unionist political comment, points to a real Sinn Féin agenda at total variance with its professed aim of healing our society. It is, unfortunately, an agenda of perpetuating strife. It is war by other means, at the expense of the heartbreak of citizens mourning their loved ones. How shameful can they get? How base can they become? There is an old Spanish proverb that says:

I have received one amendment to the motion, which is published on the Marshalled List.

I beg to move the following amendment: In line 1, delete all after "Assembly" and insert:

I wish to explain to the House what my party finds inadequate in the motion. To begin with, the motion mentions

when, clearly, it is not only Republicans who erect offensive monuments.

The motion goes on, in emotional terms, to describe in a one-sided way what we all know to be the suffering of all our people. My party finds that unacceptable. The motion calls on the Executive to take "immediate action". Our amendment acknowledges that there is more to the matter than asking the Executive to storm in and remove those monuments. That approach is not satisfactory, and, therefore, we cannot support the motion.

Our amendment advocates a more proactive, equal, fair and genuine way of attempting to deal with the problem. If we wish to solve the problem, we must come up with a sensible way to deal with it. That is why we have included the bodies and responsible people listed in the amendment. Our conflict has been unique. It is vital that we consider the sensitivities of all those who wish to remember their dead.

The SDLP has no general ingrained objection to memorials. The problem arises when those monuments cause offence to other people within or without a community. We have a sad tradition in our society of being offended by the actions of others. That is not the way in which the SDLP wants to see our community continue. A serious human rights issue is at stake.

To erect monuments in a manner that is not conducive to the pledges made in the Good Friday Agreement is to fail the commitment to peace; to insist on erecting monuments where they do not have the full support of local people is to be destructive of the Good Friday Agreement's values; to erect those monuments illegally on public grounds and to ignore the implications is a clear disregard of the principles of the Good Friday Agreement.

Some time ago, a Republican monument was erected in Downpatrick without any reference to the council on whose land it was built. In an attempt to deal with the issue, the council asked someone to take responsibility for it. No one would. It is unfair to put a public body in such a position, and whoever was responsible had no regard for how it would affect others. The council, mindful of the sensitive nature of the situation, decided to deal with it step by step. It consulted the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. The commission's interesting response stated:

The commission's response also stated:

That is a clear statement of the problems that unauthorised, illegal structures create.

A similar monument to the one in Downpatrick was then erected in the town where I live, Castlewellan. Planning permission was applied for. I asked whether it had been proofed against the human rights and equality legislation vis-a-vis the Equality Commission's opinion that I have just quoted. It had not. The irony was that Sinn Féin members of the council - in a clear contradiction of their responsibility as publicly elected officials - supported that. It was a clear indication that, for them, party politics came before the welfare of the community. They have treated human rights and equality with total contempt despite their supposed allegiance to equality - they are interested in "themselves alone".

I said that I would support remembrances as part of the healing process, and that is the SDLP's policy. I also said that I would have no objection to a monument that had the full support of the community, the Human Rights Commission and the equality agenda.

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