Parents in Derry kept their children away from football practice and town during last summer's racial unrest, the Assembly heard.

Mark H. Durkan, SDLP MLA for Foyle, said his office received calls from worried parents and grandparents. Some teenagers stayed home rather than go into the city centre.

"Children who should be worrying about homework, school tests, playing with friends, were instead worrying about whether it was safe to go outside, and many still are," Durkan said.

He was speaking during an Opposition Day debate on a motion calling for urgent racial equality legislation, promised in the Executive's 2025-2026 legislative programme.

Durkan's constituency colleague Sinéad McLaughlin, who moved the motion, said the past year had seen buses burnt, families driven from homes, and businesses forced to close.

After the riots, McLaughlin met representatives from ethnic minority communities, who described being frightened to leave their homes and worried about children's safety.

"People spoke about being frightened to leave their homes. Parents were worried about their children's safety," she said.

McLaughlin said communities felt abandoned by those supposed to protect them and frustrated that words were not matched by action.

The motion also marked Black History Month 2026 and celebrated the contribution of black people and ethnic minority communities, including in hospitals, businesses, schools, and life sciences.

McLaughlin noted that her party colleague Lilian Seenoi Barr became Northern Ireland's first black mayor, but said progress could not be celebrated without confronting what happened on the streets.

The motion pledged that everyone should be able to live free from racism, discrimination, and intimidation.