Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long ‘alert to the risks’ of role
By Rebecca Black, PA
Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister has said she is “alert to the risks” of her role.
Naomi Long said while she does not generally talk about her security situation, she said she is “cautious” and “alert to the risks”.
She also admitted that she did not use the front room in her house.
Ms Long has faced some publicised threats during her political career, and said she was disturbed when a crowd gathered outside her home in Belfast in October.
She said there were around 40 people, some with their faces covered, and including men, women and children, who said they wanted to speak to Ms Long about the management of sex offenders and immigration.
She stressed it had been an inappropriate way to approach her, and insisted she is not afraid to engage with people if they contact her office to make an appointment.
In an interview on BBC Radio Ulster’s Stephen Nolan Show, she said she was “embarrassed” at the impact on her neighbours.
“It was uncomfortable and it was disturbing,” she said.
“It was embarrassing because it was disturbing my neighbours as well as me. One of my neighbours had just passed away. There was a wake that night for her… I just think disrupting a family the night before a funeral is pretty low.
“So yes, I find it very difficult… I was embarrassed that the police were back outside my house again, because that’s not the way I want to live, and it’s not the way I want my neighbours to have to live.
I'm not going to go and have a debate in my driveway
“I’m not a shrinking violet. I’ll talk to anyone. I’ll give people my opinion. I’ll take on the challenge and everything else, but to come to people’s houses at night en masse is not a way to engage in conversation.
“I’m not going to go and have a debate in my driveway, and it’s not an appropriate way to behave.”
She added that she was very grateful for the condemnation of the incident across the political spectrum.
“Everybody was really clear that it wasn’t acceptable. It wouldn’t be acceptable for anybody else, and it’s not acceptable for us,” she said.
“But at the end of the day, when you get into politics, you can’t afford to be too precious.
“The one thing that I would ask is that people respect the boundaries of the job. I have an office that if people want to talk to me, they can make an appointment and come in and have that conversation. People do that every week.
“There’s no need to create a situation that then takes police resources away from more important things.
“The way to handle this is to talk directly or send an email like anybody normal would do if they wanted to contact their elected representative.”
