Browse content similar to 01/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. It has been a busy day here are on | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
the hill, following the news that the leader of the Ulster Unionist | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
Party has sacked his deputy. It was only a few weeks ago they showed a | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
united front at their party conference but that has now been | :00:40. | :00:45. | |
shattered, ironically following a row over Unionist unity. | :00:45. | :00:51. | |
And another unity row was staring, about same-sex marriage. I am | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
opposed to gay marriage and I would have no intention of bringing | :00:56. | :01:03. | |
forward earlier legislation to this House to make easier gay marriage. | :01:03. | :01:10. | |
People can pretend it is the same as other partnership but it is not. | :01:10. | :01:16. | |
And a testing time for GCSEs of. have been in office for 18 months | :01:16. | :01:26. | |
:01:26. | :01:29. | ||
and I do not believe any members It has been a lively day here in | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
Stormont. Our reporter is here to talk us through what has been | :01:33. | :01:40. | |
happening. First, those ructions in the Ulster Unionist Party. Yes. | :01:40. | :01:46. | |
This started with a speech given over the weekend, when the leader | :01:46. | :01:52. | |
said the party was sleepwalking into unity. He said the DUP had | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
given the impression the Unionist rain had left the station and that | :01:56. | :02:02. | |
Peter Robinson was in good dry's cab smiling broadly. He yesterday | :02:02. | :02:10. | |
denied this was an attack but they did not see it that way. Jim | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
Allister was sacked as leader. what has he said to say about that? | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
He has not given any interviews but he has issued a short statement, | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
saying he was disappointed with the decision but accepted he had the | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
right as leader. At the same time, the Press Office released a | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
statement for the Assembly grid saying Mike Nesbitt had received | :02:34. | :02:42. | |
many complaints about the use of the phrase "sleepwalking into | :02:42. | :02:48. | |
Unionist unity". They said when the United Front was required the UUP | :02:48. | :02:55. | |
would not be found wanting. What about anything from anybody else? | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
No other word from any body today but we have heard from Basil McCrea. | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
He is very close to Jim Allister on the liberal end of the party. He | :03:05. | :03:13. | |
was speaking in Belfast at an event organised by the Conservative Party. | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
If I am not sure there is a difference between the two. I will | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
make it clear I supported John and I think he is an excellent | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
politician. He made a speech a few days ago, actually, which set out | :03:28. | :03:33. | |
what he considered to be the right way forward for the party and I am | :03:33. | :03:40. | |
sure people, having read it, we understand the content is something | :03:40. | :03:46. | |
we can all agree with. The other big talking point - the | :03:46. | :03:52. | |
debate on gay marriage. Yes. In Westminster, the governments are | :03:52. | :03:59. | |
consulting on plans to bring in gay marriage. Here, any changes to | :03:59. | :04:03. | |
marriage or fall in the domain of the first and Deputy First Minister | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
us and the Department of Finance. Councils have been debating the | :04:08. | :04:14. | |
issues and all but one have come out of favour. Today it was the | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
turn of MLAs to debate the issue. The Green Party MLA was there as | :04:20. | :04:26. | |
well. Thank you. That call for marriage quality did naked to the | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
House today. The Finance Minister was called on to introduce | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
legislation to make sure all couples should have equal legal | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
entitlement to the protections and benefits of marriage. | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
If whether this motion is passed or not today and whether we legislate | :04:42. | :04:48. | |
for equal marriage, this will have little or no impact on our lives. | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
However, there are those who happen to love and wish to commit to | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
somebody of the same sex. And they are currently denied the | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
opportunity to marry. If we as an Assembly have the opportunity to | :05:00. | :05:06. | |
say today that we see these couples as equal and see their love as | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
being equal. This is not a debate about the quality. Rather it is a | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
debate about redefining the centuries old meaning of the word | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
marriage. It is simply a myth that Mrs and equality issue because the | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
quality already exists. People are free by marriage or civil | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
partnership to take on the same rights and bear the same legal | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
burdens, no matter what type of relationship they choose to enter | :05:32. | :05:41. | |
into. If we fail in this motion, we are sending out a message that the | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
lesbian, gay and trans-gender community are not equal and | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
creating conditions in which their basic rights are eroded and this is | :05:49. | :05:57. | |
unacceptable. We support the extension of civil and marriages to | :05:57. | :06:03. | |
same-sex couples. There we are very clear that robust protections are | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
provided and encapsulated within legislation to we sure faith groups | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
and religious groups will not be forced to conduct same-sex marriage | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
ceremonies or to have them conducted on their premises. It -- | :06:18. | :06:25. | |
to ensure. I would ask one member from the Unionist benches to speak. | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
I am aware many people in my community are deeply uneasy about | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
it and respect their position. And I am surprised that the DUP have | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
felt the need to present a position of concern on a matter that should | :06:38. | :06:45. | |
clearly be a free vote. It is also about real people. It is about sons, | :06:45. | :06:52. | |
daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts. And it is about | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
parents who want to see their children in loving, secure, stable | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
and permanent relationships. Protected by the legal institution | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
of marriage. Members will know my party believes issues of this | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
nature should be subject to individual conscience and not party | :07:09. | :07:15. | |
dictates. And as someone with a clear personal faith, yet tolerant | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
of the right of others to hold and express their views, I want to set | :07:20. | :07:26. | |
out my personal position on the subject of same-sex marriage. I do | :07:26. | :07:32. | |
not and cannot support the principle of same-sex marriage. | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
am opposed to gay marriage. I would have no intention of bringing | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
forward any legislation to this House to facilitate gay marriage | :07:40. | :07:47. | |
and I believe that in doing that I do reflect what is a general view | :07:47. | :07:53. | |
in this society, in Northern Ireland. The proposer of the motion | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
has to think about the right to get married, the right to private | :07:57. | :08:07. | |
:08:07. | :08:08. | ||
family life, etc. But equally the other ministers talked about the | :08:08. | :08:14. | |
rights of people to have religious freedom and religious beliefs. And | :08:14. | :08:21. | |
in this particular case, the two are not compatible. People across | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
the way can pretend, or some people, can pretend civil partnership is | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
the same as equal marriage. It is not. To pretend a words do not hurt | :08:33. | :08:38. | |
young and old... That is an absolute pretence, and take | :08:38. | :08:43. | |
responsibility for our words. That's what we have to do. | :08:43. | :08:49. | |
proposal needed a cross-community majority -- needed a cross- | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
community majority to succeed but only 45 voted to back the move. | :08:54. | :09:02. | |
Joining need to discuss the matter is Gavin Boyd from Equal Marriage. | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
Obviously, if you look at those figures, there is no overwhelming | :09:06. | :09:12. | |
appetite to change the law. Do you accept that? No. I think what we | :09:12. | :09:21. | |
saw today was an enormous vote in favour of couples. I think what we | :09:21. | :09:23. | |
saw today would have been completely inconceivable a few | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
years ago so it is a great move forward for us. But they are still | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
in a minority and there is a bigger set of legislators opposed to the | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
change? Absolutely. The issue of rights for same-sex attracted | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
people have always been minority issues, particularly in Northern | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
Ireland. What we are seeing is that they are not that much of a | :09:46. | :09:52. | |
minority issue. It is increasing in number. Can you tell me why it | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
civil partnerships are not enough? In terms of legal recognition, | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
couples in civil partnerships are barred from adopting. That is just | :10:01. | :10:08. | |
one reason... Is that your main point of concern? No, I think if | :10:08. | :10:16. | |
you were asked to talk to people, young people in particular, they | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
don't see them as being equal and afforded the same recognition. | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
Because you could just campaign for a change in the adoption law? | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
is already going on and there is a judicial review being defended by | :10:29. | :10:32. | |
the Department of Health at the minute and we expect the ruling | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
will come out of favour of allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
But even if that does happen, you think equality as far as marriage | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
is concerned is important? Absolutely. It is unreasonable to | :10:46. | :10:52. | |
expect gay people do not want any part of that institution. Can you | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
see the DUP changing its mind? It might be the numbers are better | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
than they were five, 10 years ago, but the DUP will never accept this? | :11:01. | :11:07. | |
I am not too sure about this. If we look at the demographics, I think | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
it is a bit early to tell what they will be voting in favour of. What | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
we can see from the language is that the DUP is not the same party | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
it was 30 years ago. They were very careful not to use the same emotive | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
language today and I think that is a real sign of how far they have | :11:25. | :11:31. | |
come. If there was also a disagreement amongst members of | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
other parties as well. We saw that in the Ulster Unionist Party, the | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
SDLP and the Alliance Party? That is true. I think what you saw is | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
that there is a breadth of opinion on this. There is cross-party | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
support and what we saw today was the work there is still there for | :11:50. | :11:56. | |
us to do. But the vote is still very close and if it was to happen | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
again 18 months from now, two years, it would be much tighter, if not an | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
outright majority. Thank you. John O'Dowd told the Assembly today | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
the time has come for a review of GCSEs and A-levels. It follows the | :12:11. | :12:18. | |
recent decision by the Education Secretary in Westminster to replace | :12:18. | :12:23. | |
GCSEs by a proposed baccalaureate. This will mean an opportunity for | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
all, including a pupils, to consider how the education system | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
meets the needs of our children as well as those of our economy. I | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
also want to reassure pupils Curran is studying for GCSEs or A-levels | :12:37. | :12:43. | |
that the examining process is fit for purpose and to those past | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
pupils of the system, they, too, should be proud of their | :12:47. | :12:57. | |
:12:57. | :12:57. | ||
qualifications. If our education system is to be recognised as world | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
class, I do not go for change for the sake of change. But if it is | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
deemed to be appropriate, I would be tempted to stick with what we | :13:07. | :13:13. | |
have. But we want to satisfy myself with research across the | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
educational business sector that this is the case. If I consequently, | :13:17. | :13:23. | |
I am committing a review of GCSE and A-level qualifications taking - | :13:23. | :13:29. | |
- to ensure they continue to meet our economic needs in the future. I | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
would ask them to take for this review. I have asked them to | :13:33. | :13:43. | |
provide two reports, one in January 2013 and another in March, and | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
another in June 2013. We will consider the findings and | :13:48. | :13:55. | |
recommendations to point the way And does the Minister still believe, | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
as he in earlier this year, that it is important that the standard of | :13:58. | :14:05. | |
exams remains the same as in England? Yes. Maybe not exactly the | :14:05. | :14:12. | |
same, maybe better. I did that students from here and prospective | :14:12. | :14:21. | |
employees here have to be confident that the qualification certificates | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
that they carry are equal to, if not better to, any qualification | :14:25. | :14:30. | |
system across these islands. I want to make sure their qualifications | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
are portable and transferable. It will be to work either across these | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
islands or internationally, whatever qualification system we | :14:39. | :14:46. | |
decide on. Is it not clear that the present GCSEs are too weak the tool | :14:46. | :14:52. | |
to command educational and employee or respect. Therefore a more | :14:52. | :14:59. | |
rigorous exam is necessary. If most -- with most of the rest of the | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
United Kingdom moving in that direction it would be wholly | :15:03. | :15:08. | |
prejudicial to allow students to seek to hold on to what could be | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
seen to be dumbed down exams. Can the Minister assure us that that | :15:13. | :15:20. | |
option is not an option and would be taken? Well, none of the | :15:20. | :15:30. | |
:15:30. | :15:30. | ||
research backs up the comment on the fact... I don't think they are | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
a discredited exams process. There are clearly points of view in | :15:33. | :15:38. | |
regards this matter but none of the research would suggest that GCSEs | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
have failed the functions that an exam is there for. To test the | :15:42. | :15:48. | |
ability of an individual on their learning and ability to carry out | :15:48. | :15:53. | |
functions. I don't accept it on a premise. However I do want to watch | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
a short, and I have said publicly that Michael Gove may have fatally | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
flawed the product of GCSEs and that perception may build and grow. | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
I don't want any young person leaving hour examination system | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
with a certificate which may, for all the wrong reasons, be looked | :16:09. | :16:15. | |
down on. I want our young people to leave our education system with | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
examinations they can be proud on and are portable and transferable | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
across these idols -- Island and further afield. I have no interest | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
in dumbing-down any examination process because it does no favour | :16:28. | :16:33. | |
to the individual and no favour to our society. I have asked to meet | :16:33. | :16:39. | |
Michael Gove and he has refused to meet me. It is not a case I have a | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
phobia of meeting Michael Gove. We may not be on the same page in | :16:42. | :16:48. | |
regards many things but he has refused to meet myself and I | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
understand he has refused to meet the Welsh education minister as | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
well in relation to the subject of exams. He has offered a meeting | :16:56. | :17:02. | |
with one of his junior ministers. Setting my ego aside I may take him | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
upon that offered to meet a junior minister. However I believe that | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
Michael Gove should be meeting his counterparts and I cannot speak on | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
behalf of the Welsh counterpart but I certainly believe he should be | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
meeting me. Surely after that statement by the education minister | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
the Assembly debated the issue further in the DUP motion | :17:22. | :17:28. | |
expressing concerns about the possible implications of any | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
replacement to GCSEs will have on students in Northern Ireland. | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
welcome the announcement made by the Minister this morning to | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
undertake a review of GCSEs and A- levels in Northern Ireland. It does | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
not go unnoticed that this announcement was made on the | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
morning of this debate. The minister has quite rightly | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
acknowledged that following Education Secretary Michael Gove's | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
announcement, he has a duty to undertake this review. I am pleased | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
that in the response to questions today the review will encompass all | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
aspects of the examination system. I think his comments about it being | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
a consultation rather than a knitter Association may give cause | :18:08. | :18:15. | |
for concern that he may already have a predetermined view. All | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
consultations should be reviewed through the lens of legal | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
requirements. The Secretary of State for England has made his | :18:22. | :18:29. | |
intentions known about the changes he intends to make to the GCSE | :18:29. | :18:35. | |
system. I believe that it is now the job of this assembly and our | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
own education minister, in particular to mitigate against any | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
potential negative implications for students here in Northern Ireland | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
and ensure that our examination system is highly regarded across | :18:48. | :18:54. | |
the whole of the UK and Republic of Ireland and further afield. There | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
is no denying that the major implications that Michael Gove's | :18:58. | :19:03. | |
recent announcement could have on students in Northern Ireland. Once | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
education has been devolved the two administrations throughout the | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
United Kingdom, it is no mean feat that our educational policy has | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
remained relatively harmonised. I don't doubt for one moment the | :19:15. | :19:20. | |
authority with which he can speak but I do believe it shows a failure | :19:20. | :19:23. | |
in effective working relationships that he was in a position to make | :19:23. | :19:28. | |
such a radical announcement without having engaged in even minimum | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
consultation with his devolved counterparts. Despite the | :19:33. | :19:43. | |
:19:43. | :19:44. | ||
criticisms were some members of the GCSE system, I have been in office | :19:44. | :19:50. | |
18 months and I don't believe that any member has taken an interest in | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
GCSEs before Michael Gove stood up in Westminster and made his | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
announcement. Alex Attwood was at the despatch box for questions to | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
the Department of Environment. Road safety, driver training and marine | :20:04. | :20:10. | |
conservation zones or on the agenda. So far this year there have been 31 | :20:10. | :20:16. | |
deaths on the roads, compared with 41 at this time last year. I would | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
not draw any conclusions from that, given that we are now entering into | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
the winter months as to what the figure will be at the end of the | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
year but it does suggest to me that through a range of measures, we are | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
bearing down on this issue of road deaths. Can I ask the Minister that | :20:34. | :20:41. | |
a new proposal he is thinking of and that is restricting young | :20:41. | :20:44. | |
drivers in the first six months not to be able to carry a very young | :20:45. | :20:54. | |
passengers? Not only do I intend to go forward with this because there | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
was virtual unanimity and very strong endorsement of the proposals | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
are put to the executive in principle in the first week in July | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
in terms of graduated penalties on one hand and the changes to driver | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
training regime on the other. One of those proposals, borrow from | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
international best practice, which you see in this part of Ireland, | :21:16. | :21:23. | |
the most radical driver training regime in this island is we will | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
restrict newly-qualified drivers for six months after qualification | :21:27. | :21:34. | |
as to who they may carry. Can the minister indicate if emergency | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
payments will be extended to include those whose properties are | :21:38. | :21:44. | |
affected by flooding? I will certainly look at the situation but | :21:44. | :21:50. | |
the council has not yet raised with me. The scheme has been extended | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
even in recent days and weeks in order to capture further flooding | :21:53. | :21:59. | |
events were the they might be. fishing industry is supportive of | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
the marine the bubble concern. Given that the fishing industry and | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
that environmentalists agree that the displacement is an important | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
issue, will he ensure that the process does examine this issue | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
thoroughly to ensure there is no unforeseen or negative consequences | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
as a result of designating his own? I can give that reassurance. If | :22:23. | :22:31. | |
there is an area that might be designated a marine conservation | :22:31. | :22:33. | |
zone, there will be in-depth discussion in that regard and part | :22:33. | :22:38. | |
of that will be to get a good understanding of the geology, the | :22:39. | :22:48. | |
:22:49. | :22:49. | ||
wildlife, habitats, and the ecology of the area. So far we have not | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
heard the full number of marine conservation zones yet that are | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
intended to be created. When will you be able to tell us how many you | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
will create and the cost? We have not yet got the bill on the floor | :23:01. | :23:08. | |
of the chamber and it maybe that I will try to prevail upon my | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
executive colleagues to support further amendments that are coming | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
out of the committee stage but it is likely that the first area that | :23:17. | :23:24. | |
might become a marine conservation zone is in the south. Tourism | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
dominated questions to the enterprise minister Arlene Foster | :23:28. | :23:34. | |
today. Topics ranged from promoted orange and Unionist cultures as a | :23:34. | :23:41. | |
product of tourism to the success of Titanic Belfast. First there was | :23:41. | :23:47. | |
the question about the gay quarter in Belfast. Promotion of Belfast as | :23:47. | :23:53. | |
a tourist destination. Belfast City Council integrated framework for | :23:53. | :23:57. | |
tourism was developed in partnership with other Northern | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
Ireland Tourist Board. Through the framework they have been supporting | :24:01. | :24:08. | |
Belfast City Council in the development of the city centre. It | :24:08. | :24:16. | |
includes the quarter. We have a rich culture of heritage that we | :24:16. | :24:22. | |
should celebrate and I celebrate -- look forward to showcasing many | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
aspects of our culture. Following on from the success of the | :24:27. | :24:31. | |
celebrations at the weekend, when thousands of tourists came to | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
Northern Ireland, can the Minister advise what she's doing to promote | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
orange and Unionist culture as a product of tourism within Northern | :24:39. | :24:49. | |
:24:49. | :24:52. | ||
Ireland? I will take it because this is culture and tourism. In | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
relation to the Ulster celebrations at the weekend, they were a huge | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
success. I commend the Unionists centenary and everybody at the | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
Orange Lodge of Northern Ireland that brought together all the | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
elements of Unionism to commemorate what was a hugely significant | :25:09. | :25:14. | |
anniversary in our history. As the years have come on and follow on, | :25:14. | :25:21. | |
there will be many events which will mean more to some people than | :25:21. | :25:25. | |
others. We must, all of us, respect the right of everyone have to | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
remember the significant events in the past and in one way or another | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
we must recognise that they all have contributed to making us the | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
people we are today and indeed Northern Ireland the place it is | :25:37. | :25:46. | |
today so this is the start of the decade of centenaries. As members | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
are aware we are working in relation to the centenaries and we | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
hope we will have as good a day as we did on Saturday for the rest of | :25:56. | :26:03. | |
the celebrations. Can the Minister provide some additional information | :26:03. | :26:09. | |
about the tourism campaign for 2013 and if she feels that 2013 will be | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
an improvement on 2012? Furthermore as the minister any plans to | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
publish the tourism strategy? relation to 2012, I don't in there | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
is any doubt it has been a huge success. Obviously in terms of the | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
official tourism statistics, we won't have the final statistics and | :26:31. | :26:38. | |
tell quarter to of 2013. Of course we have heard of Titanic Belfast | :26:38. | :26:43. | |
welcoming its half-million visitor. A tremendous feat when you think | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
about what some organisations had to say about Titanic Belfast before | :26:47. | :26:52. | |
it actually opened its doors. We all remember what the Audit Office | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
had to say about Titanic Belfast. They were querying if we would | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
reach 400,000 a year and Titanic Belfast has only been open since | :27:01. | :27:07. | |
30th March and they have already welcomed 500,000 visitors. | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
tourism minister. More than happy to share those numbers with her | :27:10. | :27:16. | |
fellow MLAs. Chris Page is with me again. Let us go back to that issue | :27:16. | :27:20. | |
of gay marriage that was debated earlier. Talk us through some of | :27:20. | :27:27. | |
the details over how the voting panned out. The motion was defeated | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
by 50 votes to 55. It was always likely to fail because it was | :27:32. | :27:38. | |
basically impossible to do it without DUP support. Three | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
Unionists voted in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry. | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
They were all Ulster Unionists, Basil MacRae, Michael Copland and | :27:47. | :27:52. | |
one more. The Alliance Party is in favour of gay marriage but one | :27:52. | :27:58. | |
member voted against it. As Forest the SDLP goes all their MLAs in the | :27:58. | :28:05. | |
chamber voted in favour except Paul McGuinness who abstained. Where | :28:05. | :28:10. | |
does the whole idea and drive that we heard about to change the | :28:10. | :28:15. | |
legislation go from here? Basically there are new plans to bring | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
through legislation as became clear in that debate. The executive | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
parties are divided, the DUP are set against the whole idea of | :28:22. | :28:28. | |
allowing same-sex couples to marry so in the absence of their support, | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
although the issue is very much on the agenda in the chamber, it is | :28:32. | :28:36. |