Debate contribution: Racially Motivated Riots
Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on .
- MLA
- Mr Jon Burrows
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 15 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Matter of the Day
- Heading
- Racially Motivated Riots
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5613133
Read the official Assembly record
Text
As I have said before, the brutal attack on Stephen Ogilvie shocked not just the people of Northern Ireland but the entire world. It was savage and brutal, and I am glad that someone was swiftly arrested and charged. We must let due process take its course. I spoke this morning to Maitiu Mag Tighearnan, the have-a-go hero with the hurley stick who intervened and, no doubt, saved Stephen Ogilvie's life. What a man he is. His humility on the phone with me was simply inspiring and humbling. I will address immigration in a moment, but it is important to say first that all violence is wrong today, tomorrow and yesterday. The racist violence that we saw was horrendous. I call "traitors" people who would chase nurses from our hospitals, where they are trying to treat our citizens, because of the colour of their skin. Burning down a Glider bus is just an act of wanton criminality. Forcing people out of their home or burning a home because of the colour of the skin of someone who is in it is an act of unadulterated racism. I support the Police Service in rounding up and bringing to justice everyone who was involved in that. You have to be consistent in your support for the police and the justice system. Mr Carroll criticises the police for not intervening, but he also criticises them for firing baton rounds. He would not see them have tasers; he would not see them have CS spray. There are many Members who want to disarm the police of every option they have to deal with criminals and then criticise them when they do not intervene in a riot. There are also Members who will vote today to change the age of criminal responsibility. That would stop the police even investigating people up to the age of 14 who might have been involved in serious crime, such as burning down a Glider or burning an immigrant out of their home. That change will mean that, if you are 13 years and 300-odd days old, it is not a crime to burn a migrant out of their home. It is simply not a crime. That sends the wrong signal at the wrong time. As a body of political leaders, we should be able to talk about immigration in a non-inflammatory way — to separate legal, illegal and asylum — and to say that it is right to deport foreign criminals in the same way as it is right for the authorities in Europe, America or Canada to deport a UK citizen who commits a crime over there. That is not racist. We need to be able to articulate these things. We also need to be able to articulate facts about the speed of our asylum system and the deficiencies in our common travel area and the fact that many migrants contacted me this weekend to say, "Jon, thank you for speaking up for us, because we did this the right way — we went about immigration the right way — and, therefore, people shouldn't take shortcuts and do it illegally". My party, unlike many others, always stands for the rule of law and order. I condemn the violence, and I wish Stephen Ogilvie well.
546 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.24 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.62).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.26 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.18 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.04 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.27 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.13 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.52 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.24 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.06 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.62 |
| Adopts it | 0.32 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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