Debate contribution: Election of Speaker and Deputy Speakers
Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on .
- MLA
- Mr Eóin Tennyson
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 30 May 2022
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Assembly Business
- Heading
- Election of Speaker and Deputy Speakers
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4177740
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise as the first Member of the House to have been born after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. It beggars belief that we are here today, 24 years on, with the institutions once again being placed in jeopardy. My generation was promised more than that. We were promised not just peace but progress, progress that has never been fully realised because of the poor political leadership that is on display in the Chamber today. It is difficult to fathom and yet, at the same time, depressingly predictable that we are here today, four weeks on from an Assembly election, without a functioning Assembly or Executive. That is a sad indictment of our politics at any time, but it is particularly shameful when people in our community struggle to heat and eat and face some of the worst hospital waiting lists anywhere in western Europe. Since the election, the Alliance Party has been here every Monday doing what we can to serve our constituents, willing to get on with the full jobs that we were elected to do. Today is no exception. Again, we stand ready to support the nomination of a Speaker and, over the course of today's proceedings, will likely support both Patsy McGlone and Mike Nesbitt for the role. Indeed, little over two weeks ago, over 70% of Members in the Chamber — nationalist, unionist and none of the above — supported the appointment of a Speaker. My vote and the votes of my 16 colleagues were effectively disregarded. How can it be that the votes of a cross-community party are excluded from a cross-community vote? That one party is able to block an appointment is an affront to democracy and is disrespectful to the people whom I represent. The case for reform has never been clearer. Shamefully, the DUP Members turned up, signed the register, took their salaries and then refused to do the jobs that they were elected to do and serve our community. The DUP claims to be exercising leverage, but it is treating the most vulnerable in our community as leverage. The DUP's actions over the past number of weeks will not hurt Boris Johnson or the EU, but they will hurt people languishing on waiting lists and people relying on food banks to feed their kids. The DUP claims to have a mandate for this course of action, having never mentioned blocking the formation of an Assembly at any point during the election campaign, but let us be clear: we all have mandates in the Chamber. The majority of MLAs want to be pragmatic on the protocol, and an even greater majority want to get on with the job of actually governing. We have heard much today about the Good Friday Agreement and about equality: you will forgive me for taking no lectures from the party to my right on either. They have spent a lifetime railing against both. The lowest moment of the recent election campaign was when I knocked a door and a lady came to her front door in a winter coat. She said that the kids were at school and that she could not afford to pay for gas, so she had to save it for when they got home. It is beyond me, after two years of a pandemic, when our people and public services are on their knees, that some still seek to pursue even further chaos and instability. Over the past two weeks since the last sitting, the cost-of-living crisis has deepened. Even further funds have gathered, waiting to be allocated. Today, we have an opportunity to end the seemingly interminable drift; to finally deliver real leadership built on hope, not fear, and delivery, not division; and to build a more fair, shared and equal society. For the sake of all the people whom we represent, I urge colleagues to my right to change course, do the right thing, support the election of a Speaker today and let us serve our entire community together.
670 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: 0.17 (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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.78).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- 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 | 0.14 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.07 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.20 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.10 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.46 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.17 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.78 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.19 |
| Adopts it | 0.03 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.45 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.32 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.11 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.04 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.03 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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