Sue Ramsey MLA
Sue Ramsey is one of Sinn Féin’s five West Belfast MLAs. Her political career started on Lisburn Borough Council as a councillor representing Dunmurry Cross in 1997, a seat she held until standing down in 2005. Elected to Stormont for West Belfast in 1998, she lost her seat in the 2003 election but regained it by cooption the next year. Previously a chef, Sue chairs the Employment and Learning Committee and also sits on the Assembly’s Health Committee. She is the party’s spokeswoman on employment and learning, and also children and young people.
How did you become interested in politics?
It’s not so much that I became interested in politics as politics became interested in me. I have always been very involved in community work in West Belfast and that is something that I learned at home. Our family has always been very active in the community and it was just a natural thing for me to get involved. Joining Sinn Féin seemed the logical thing to do. It is a party that has always worked hard for the interests of the people of West Belfast and, obviously, I support the party’s commitment to Irish unity and socialism.
Seeing deprivation and hardship locally and knowing that my friends and neighbours were capable of more and deserved better has spurred me on. I don’t really see myself as a politician. I am much more at home with the term community worker – that’s what I do: I work for the good of my local community in West Belfast and I work for the improvement of the wider community here.
What stands out about West Belfast?
The people. There is an incredibly strong community spirit that I have never encountered anywhere else. Part of that is the bond that is forged from shared suffering, but it is more, it is a positive and living thing. It is the care that people have for their neighbours and their community; the desire for better schools, more jobs and greater prosperity. That’s what I want for West Belfast and for the people across our whole community. West Belfast has very strong identity and traditions – it has made me what I am. I have a lot to be grateful to West Belfast for and I love living there.
Over your career to date, what have been the most memorable events?
There are so many memorable events; it is really difficult to pick out just one. I remember when I was first elected I brought two republican women to the Assembly whose only memory of this place was coming up here with their parents for their benefits. It made me realise that things are changing – the people are in charge now.
Please outline what you hope to achieve for the constituency by the next Assembly election?
The hopes that I have for West Belfast are really the hopes that I have for all of the North. We must continue to work with the devolved institutions to bring equality, social justice and prosperity to all our people. I will be continuing my role in that work. I would like to help create the right conditions to bring more investment to the constituency.
As Chairperson of the Assembly’s Employment and Learning Committee, I understand the skills shortages and other structural problems that our economy faces. It also means that I am in a perfect position to work with the Employment and Learning Minister to create the programmes that will reskill and upskill our workforce, that will improve our colleges and make the path to university and higher level skills more accessible for all of our people – particularly those of West Belfast where deprivation is so evident. I would also hope to ensure that West Belfast gets the services and resources that its people need and deserve, including investment in jobs.
What have been the Employment and Learning Committee’s main achievements since devolution returned?
A key committee achievement is consensus on the key issues facing us and the other is an excellent relationship with the Minister and his department. The committee is proactive and I hope would be regarded by stakeholders as one of the easiest committees to engage with and one of the best in delivering results.
Particular highlights so far have been the committee’s inquiries into Training for Success and apprenticeships. These were conducted in partnership with the department and have resulted in positive changes to these programmes. The committee is determined to work with the department to make ApprenticeshipsNI a flagship programme that will provide our young people with an open-ended career opportunity that can run in parallel to the A-levels and university route.
The committee is also very proud of the work it has done to promote the numbers of young people studying science, technology, engineering and maths related subjects, or the STEM subjects. The expansion of these subjects is crucial to our economy’s prosperity.
The committee has just announced its plans to undertake an inquiry into the issues surrounding young people who are not in education, employment or training, or NEETs as they are called. There are around 50,000 of these young people in the 16 to 24 age range. The committee will to work with stakeholders to identify how this situation has occurred and possible options for its remedy. The work will be cross-cutting and joined-up government effort will be required.
What do you think explains the constituency’s high unemployment?
There are many factors. Some are historical such as the decline of particular industries and the constituency’s position away from the traditional large-scale sources of employment in Belfast. There are also inevitably factors such as neglect of the constituency by direct rule ministers. To remedy the situation West Belfast needs considerable investment in both jobs and infrastructure. We also need to do a lot of work to reskill and upskill our people.
How do you spend your free time?
I have been swimming in the mornings pretty regularly for some time now. This helps me relax and I am hopeful that it might make me a bit fitter too. I know it’s a cliché, but I really am a people person and I love to get out and socialise. Living and working in West Belfast as well as having a big family means that everybody knows you.
