Member's statement: Tourism: Twelfth of July

Member's statement by Mr Phillip Brett on 30 June 2026.

MLA: Mr Phillip Brett
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 30 June 2026
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Tourism: Twelfth of July
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5652714

Text

I warmly welcome the progress that has been achieved in the promotion of the Twelfth of July and our wider Orange and Ulster-Scots traditions by Tourism Northern Ireland. Last summer, I was hugely disappointed when Tourism Northern Ireland promoted a range of events taking place across Belfast but completely ignored the Twelfth of July, despite it being the largest annual cultural event in our capital city. I raised those concerns publicly at the time and continued to pursue the issue, including by directly questioning Tourism Northern Ireland officials when they appeared before the Economy Committee. My message that day was simple: if Tourism Northern Ireland is genuinely committed to promoting everything that Northern Ireland has to offer, it cannot overlook one of the biggest cultural and tourism events on the island. I am therefore delighted to report to the House that a U-turn has been secured. This year, the Twelfth has been promoted through Discover Northern Ireland's social media channels. In addition, due to the work of my DUP colleague Cheryl Brownlee, the Royal Landing commemorations in Carrickfergus have been included in official Northern Ireland marketing material. That is real progress, and it deserves to be recognised. The scale of the Twelfth of July cannot be ignored. Tens of thousands of participants take part in events across Northern Ireland, with tens of thousands of people coming out to support that important day. The Orange tradition and Ulster-Scots tradition are a vital part of our cultural heritage, and they deserve the same respect, promotion and inclusion as any other culture or identity. For too long, many parts of our community have felt that Departments have ignored those traditions: that is no longer the case. I hope that this marks not just a one-year improvement but a lasting commitment to ensuring that the Twelfth of July, our Orange tradition and Ulster-Scots heritage continue to receive the support that they deserve. It is good news for our culture and our tourism and for the Northern Ireland economy.

334 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Uncertain: close call Parades, bonfires and commemorations

Uncertain: this record is published but not counted in any total.

Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.30 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
Criteria met: Cultural grievance politics (0.92).
No identity-based framing was identified (0.65).
Subject area: Parades, bonfires and commemorations.
The overall probability was low but at least one criterion was strongly met; the answers conflict, so it is left uncertain.

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

Probability that each statement is true of this text (0 = no, 1 = yes). A criterion counts as met at 0.60 or above.
Question	Probability	Met?
Identity framing	0.58	No
Sectarian or communal antagonism	0.02	No
Cultural grievance politics	0.92	Yes
Dog-whistle messaging	0.03	No
Controversy escalation	0.38	No
Legitimate policy scrutiny	0.26	No
Overall judgement	0.30	At or below not-flagging threshold

Context and attribution (stance)
Option	Probability
No identity-based framing (chosen)	0.65
Reports or questions it	0.01
Criticises or condemns it	0.01
Adopts it	0.33

Subject area (top five)
Subject	Probability
Parades, bonfires and commemorations	0.63
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations	0.23
Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy	0.05
Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice)	0.04
Another identity-related subject	0.03

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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