Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions on an issue that is very important, if very alarming. The Good Friday Agreement indicated that there should be no divergence of rights on the island of Ireland. I think that was reiterated by the UK Government after Brexit. However, the witnesses have indicated that there was some significant divergence prior to Brexit and that possibly more looms post Brexit as well. It is worrying that no equality law has been implemented in the Northern Assembly or initiated by the Executive since the Good Friday Agreement. I know that all of Britain and Ireland were under auspices of the EU and that kept check on some rights. The figure of 42% who feel that their rights have been reduced because of Brexit is the most alarming. That is almost half the population. Do the witnesses have a breakdown on that figure or any indication of what those rights are?

In the absence of a working assembly and the long-awaited and long-promised bill of rights, the onus is now on the UK Government. However, the direction it is taking with the legislation it has introduced is the opposite of where it should be going. If one talks to people from a migrant or an ethnic minority background, most of them will say they have encountered racism of some form during their lives. That seems to be on the increase everywhere and it is much more vocal and in our faces. Action has to be taken by the Irish and British Governments and the Northern Assembly when it gets back up and running to counteract that. I am extremely worried about where it is all going and the impact that social media has. Does Ms McGahey have faith in the British Government to do the right thing in the absence of a Northern Assembly?