Ursula Meighan with news on domestic violence and housing association cutbacks
8.5% Decrease in Domestic Violence Prosecutions Extremely Disturbing says Chair of Workers Party Women’s Committee
2nd Nov 2025,
Ursula Meighan is calling for more support and resources financial and human to tackle domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
Ms Meighan said whilst a slight increase in the number of convictions are to be welcomed it cannot compensate for the drop in prosecutions. Nearly 30,000 of our citizens have experienced and suffered domestic abuse over this past year. Ms Meighan added and we know this is not the real number, there are many who don’t report the abuse for a whole host of reasons. Fear, embarrassment, having to relate and detail their abuse over and over again, and this leads to many feeling they are not believed. There is also a major problem with how long it takes for a case to get to court.
The Workers Party at their International Women’s Day event heard first hand from a woman who not only survived her abuse but fought to get a prosecution and conviction against the perpetrator. She told the audience it was a long and torturous process, and she felt she was being re-traumatised at times.
The Workers Party is calling on the minister who has the responsibility to provide protection and safety for victims of gender-based abuse and violence against women and girls. To put in place ring fenced funding and resources to tackle this problem, and to investigate the reasons for the drop in prosecutions. It would be a major concern if “those most in need of our justice system” had lost confidence in it.
Ms Meighan concluded by saying women and girls who are suffering this abuse deserve better. No one should be “subjected to abuse in our society,” without the perpetrators being held to account, and facing the “consequences of their actions.”
Concerns raised over decision to cut grants to housing associations
27th Oct 2025
Workers Party Representative Ursula Meighan has raised concerns over the decision to cut Grants to Housing Associations which she says will have a detrimental impact on waiting lists.
Ms Meighan said it beggars belief that the Communities Minister thinks that cutting grants to housing associations by 8%, and perhaps more in certain areas including Belfast, could lead to more public housing being built.
She said: "We are in a housing crisis, and it is growing day by day. It has been announced that only half the public housing promised in the programme for government will be built, this cut could mean a further reduction to those numbers.
"The minister needs to explain in much greater detail the changes he mentions with regard to design standards in building homes."
Ms Meighan continued: "The numbers of those on waiting lists, in temporary accommodation, and homeless, grows longer as each day passes. Every citizen should have the right to good quality affordable public housing. Not having a home impacts negatively on your life chances and opportunities, in employment, education, physical and mental health, and overall wellbeing.
"A state construction company would provide many benefits to the public purse, by providing well paid sustainable employment, apprenticeships for our young people, and an economic boost to our local economies. Now is the time to invest in public housing, cutting grants will make a bad situation even worse.
"There can be no lowering of standards in the design or quality of public housing in order to save money or for private developers to increase their profit margins."