Debate contribution: Election of the Speaker
Debate contribution by Mr Doug Beattie MC on .
- MLA
- Mr Doug Beattie MC
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 3 February 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Assembly Business
- Heading
- Election of the Speaker
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4254920
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I stand primarily to support the nomination of our candidate for Speaker, Dr Steve Aiken, an exceptional candidate who would be fair and robust. If he gets cross-community support, he will add value to what we have in the House and on the Floor. It would be remiss of me, as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, not to look to the outgoing Speaker, Alex Maskey, and thank him for all that he has done. It has been a difficult stint, and his retirement has been long in coming; I suppose that it is one of the longest. I have engaged extensively with him, certainly around the death and funeral of Her Majesty The Queen and the coronation of King Charles. I thanked him then and thank him now for all that he did in that regard. I thank you as you move on, and I wish you all the best. I also wish the best to whomever takes over as Speaker when the election happens. Of course, it will be Dr Steve Aiken, but I can thank him personally later. I thank you, Mr Acting Speaker, for all that you have done as well. It is not easy to be thrust in there periodically and have to go through this process. As for where we stand now, we have had two years of having no Executive or Assembly, and we have all been frustrated in some shape or form. Everybody, from all corners of the Chamber, has been frustrated, but, despite all of that frustration, the people who have suffered most are the people of Northern Ireland. They have really suffered, and, in our frustrations, we must remember that as we look forward. We have a Herculean task before us, and we have to improve the lives of the people. We can do that by making Northern Ireland a working part of the United Kingdom. We need to focus on people and everything that goes with that, regardless of their religion, sexual orientation or which community background they come from. We can do that by focusing on things like the economy, because the economy will drive our infrastructure to make people more connected. It will help us with our health service and education. It will help to build houses and create jobs so that our young people wake up in the morning with a sense of purpose and go to bed at night with a sense of fulfilment .The economy connects people to everything that goes on in Northern Ireland. That is what I am looking for going forward, but this is no panacea. Some of the challenges ahead are monumental, and we will meet them only if we support each other. There are opponents in here, and I get that we will have divisions and arguments, but we can all move in one direction, and that is to improve the lives of the people who live here, work here and visit here. I set out now, as we go forward, regardless of who the Speaker or the Ministers will be, that the Ulster Unionist Party will work with you to make this place the best place that it can be for the people who live here.
538 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: 0.04 (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 (0.96).
- 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 | 0.09 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.12 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.96 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.03 |
| Adopts it | 0.01 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.60 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.16 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.13 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.05 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.05 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.