Care workers do one of the most important jobs in our communities - caring for those who need support and assistance to live their daily lives - yet they are also among the lowest paid workers. They are also predominantly women, many from migrant communities and many heading up single parent families. The Health Minister Mike Nesbitt just announced that he will deliver pay parity with the UK to nurses, doctors and auxiliaries - but went back on his promise to extend this to care workers. It's not acceptable that the lowest paid workers should be left out. The Health Minister must extend the Real Living Wage to care workers in the independent sector in Northern Ireland now!

Children at St Teresa’s Primary School currently receive valuable speech and language support up to Primary 4. However, once pupils move into upper primary years, they are required to transfer to other schools outside their local area in order to continue accessing these essential services. This situation places unnecessary stress on families and disrupts children’s learning, friendships, and sense of belonging. Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive and communicate confidently in a familiar, supportive environment — without the hardship of leaving their community.

We are facing an ever increasing crisis over pollution. Lough Neagh, which supplies 40% of our drinking water, is facing catastrophe. Fish from the Lough have been found to have toxins for the first time. Big agricultural businesses, such as Moy Park, regularly breach pollution rules in order to make record profits. Fish kills in our rivers are becoming more and more common.  The evidence is clear: the current fines and sentencing system is not tough enough to deter anyone from polluting our loughs and rivers. Since 2020, only 16% of serious water polluters were fined - with more than eight in 10 not paying any fine at all. We need stronger fines and deterrents now. We, the undersigned, call on Minister Andrew Muir to implement the following:  1. Increased maximum penalties on summary conviction for causing pollution of a waterway or groundwater up to £50,000. 2. Unlimited fines for those pollution offences that are heard at Crown Court. 3. A more flexible enforcement system with increased powers to introduce fixed and variable penalties to act as an immediate deterrent for minor to moderate breaches of legislation.

On 30th January 1972, 13 innocent people were shot and killed on the streets of Derry by the British Army's parachute regiment. Soldier F has been acquitted of seven charges relating to murder and attempted murder on Bloody Sunday. More than 50 years on, not one member of the British Army or the political establishment has been held criminally liable. The judge noted that delay and the perjury involved in the evidence of other soldiers as factors in the evidence failing to meet the required threshold for a conviction. The strength and dignity of the families of the Bloody Sunday victims stands in direct contrast to the atrocity and injustice that brought them together.   They must have justice, and we stand with them.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the introduction of digital ID cards which will be mandatory for people working in the UK. And once again, people living in the North have been completely overlooked. Under the Good Friday Agreement, people in Northern Ireland can identify as British, Irish or both. It’s the law of the land, and forcing those of us who identify as Irish to carry a ‘Brit card’ will just not wash here. By moving towards a digital identity-backed database, there is also the risk that mandatory digital ID cards will deeply infringe upon our civil liberties  We call on Keir Starmer to protect the Good Friday Agreement and reverse his plans for mandatory digital ID cards today.

Anti-immigration protests, racist attacks on migrant workers and rising political violence has left more and more people across Northern Ireland feeling unsafe. While the number of racially-motivated attacks has risen to a record levels in Northern Ireland, we are still waiting for the Justice Minister to introduce strong hate crime legislation which would hold those engaged in racist violence to account. The recommendations on how to strengthen hate crime legislation are ready to be implemented. Former Judge Desmond Marrinan conducted an independent review of hate crime legislation in 2020 and has recently said he is "greatly disappointed" at the time it has taken to bring forward new legislation. People across Northern Ireland have been taking inspiring actions to fight hate with love in their communities. We call on Naomi Long to start using her powers and introduce strong hate crime legislation today. 

This is important because all children deserve to feel comfortable, included, and treated equally at school. Requiring girls to wear skirts while boys are allowed trousers reinforces outdated gender roles and can cause real discomfort — especially in cold weather. It’s also about freedom of choice and respect for diversity. Some children come from cultural or religious backgrounds where skirts aren’t appropriate, while others simply feel more confident and able to participate fully when given practical options like trousers. Across the rest of the UK, most schools already allow trousers for all pupils. It’s time Northern Ireland caught up. This small change would send a powerful message: that every child matters, and that our schools are places of fairness, dignity, and belonging for everyone.

Recent weeks have seen increased instances of workers across Northern Ireland being violently targeted for no other reason than the colour of their skin. The scenes at Connswater where migrant workers were targeted by racist groups styling themselves as 'vigilantes', and restaurant owner Michael Deane whipping up fear to line his own pockets. Both are sickening and must not be tolerated. We, the undersigned, condemn these actions in the strongest terms.  We also place on record our support, solidarity and love to the migrant workers across Northern Ireland who contribute to this place in so many ways - including putting food on our table, and caring for us through our NHS when we are sick.  We stand against racism, and send a strong message to them - that most people here will always fight hate with love.

In just under a month’s time, the two universities here - Queen's University Belfast, and the University of Ulster - will hold their annual careers fairs. And we have just found out that Citibank is likely to be there. Citibank should play no role in our publicly-funded universities. Not only are they the third biggest fossil fuel funder in the world, they are also the largest foreign bank in Israel and help secure funding and arms for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Citibank causes harm and destruction by financing fossil fuel companies whose greed is causing extreme weather, rising sea levels, extinction of species across the globe. And not only that, Citibank was the lead bank in arranging the purchase of F-35 fighter jets by Israel that they are now using to drop 2000lb bombs on Gaza. We, the undersigned, call on Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University to drop Citibank from all upcoming and future career fairs. 

For many visitors to Derry, one of the first things they do is explore the world famous walls that offer spectacular views right across the city. But new figures have revealed that Derry’s historic city walls are the most vandalised monument in Northern Ireland. According to figures from the Department for Communities, a total of 193 incidents have been recorded from April 2021 to April 2025. No matter who you are or where you come from, the walls are the pride of everyone in the city and across the North. Many of us want Stormont to do more to protect our cultural and built heritage.  We call on Communities Minister Gordon Lyons to invest more resources to protecting and maintaining the walls. 

When Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald put seven prospecting licenses up for consultation earlier this year, 99.5% of respondents objected to the licenses. Despite the widespread opposition to mining, her department proceeded with approving. More recently, the department has asked these companies to "relinquish" their licenses because the department didn't follow their own rules on publicising consultations. Three companies “relinquished” 5 licences but Dalradian Gold didn't  “relinquish” the other two licences. This entire process has made a mockery of the Department’s consultation process. Mining is a filthy business. It pollutes our water and land with chemicals, harms our health and destroys our beautiful ecosystems. And people here, including the amazing group Save our Sperrins, have been fighting hard to stop Dalradian's plan for a massive goldmine in the Sperrins for years. Back in 2022, Minister Caoimhe Archibald opposed Dalradian’s plans for a  massive goldmine in the Sperrins and called for a moratorium on mining licenses. Instead of giving these filthy mining companies a second chance to apply for prospecting licenses, Minister Caoimhe Archibald should implement an immediate moratorium on all mining activities and start preparing an eventual legislative plan. 

Many parents and families in Northern Ireland are coming under unbearable financial pressure due to the arbitrary and expensive school uniform requirements. However, the current draft of the School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill will make little difference to the pockets of parents - and expensive branded suppliers like Kukri and O'Neill's will continue to reap in the profits.  When the legislation is introduced to the Assembly for the consideration stage of the bill, we call on you to use your power as an MLA to ensure that the legislation includes power to implement price caps on school uniforms.