Written question AQW 15047/22-27
Written question by Mr Timothy Gaston on .
- MLA
- Mr Timothy Gaston
- Party at the time
- Traditional Unionist Voice
- Date
- 13 September 2024
- Type
- Written question
- Assembly reference
- AQW 15047/22-27
- Department
- Department of Education
- Business
- To the Minister of Education
- Assembly identifier
- Document 410029
Read the official Assembly record Open Data source
Text
To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) those from his Department, or in connection with his Department, that travelled to the United States of America at a cost to the public purse for St Patrick's Day events in March 2024; and (ii) the overall cost to the public purse, broken down by (a) travel; (b) accommodation; and (c) other expenses.
62 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.15 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.72).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Parades, bonfires and commemorations.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-qualifying 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.05 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.11 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.72 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.15 | At or below not-qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.49 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.29 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.08 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.08 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.03 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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