Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I express my condemnation of the racially motivated violent scenes that we have seen in Ballymena over the last couple of nights. It is very clear that rather than let the justice system run its course and deal with accusations of sexual assault and attempted rape, others have used them to stir up racial hatred in Ballymena and attack very vulnerable communities who are making a significant economic contribution to the town and the surrounding area. It has got to the stage where we have vulnerable people posting their identities on their doors in the hope that their homes and property will not be attacked or burned. It is time for some politicians in the area to dial down the rhetoric and to allow the authorities to deal with this matter and for leadership to be shown in terms of protecting very vulnerable communities in the area. Unfortunately, this is not unique to Ballymena. It has been seen across Ireland. Accusations and incidents have been used to whip up racial hatred. At one time it used to be sectarian hatred but now it is racial hatred. Nonetheless, it needs to be confronted wherever it manifests itself.

On a hopefully more positive note regarding County Antrim, the British Government today will announce its contribution to the Casement Park funding. I ask the Leader to engage with the Tánaiste on this. I know that he has had some engagement with the Government already. It will hopefully be the catalyst that will allow all parties to come around the table with a clear knowledge of what is required to build the stadium, which has been outstanding for so many years. It has deprived a new generation of sports people in Antrim and Ulster generally of the opportunity to play in Casement Park. I know that the announcement of the amount the British Government will contribute should take into consideration, as the Tánaiste has said, the generosity of the Government here in Dublin. It should also allow the Executive in Belfast to reconsider the inflationary impact of the years of non-development of the site and the GAA to consider what increase it could make to its contribution.

This project has been delayed for far too long. The impact the venue's absence on sport in County Antrim, Belfast and further afield across Ulster and Ireland has been keenly felt. The potential economic contribution that such a stadium would make to the city of Belfast and to the island generally should not be underestimated. I ask the Leader to encourage the Tánaiste to lend his weight to immediately gathering all parties around the table to get some momentum into this project at last and get the stadium built as quickly as possible.