Member's statement: Newpoint Players
Member's statement by Mr Justin McNulty on .
- MLA
- Mr Justin McNulty
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 11 March 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Newpoint Players
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4269468
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I offer hearty comhghairdeas
to a proud Irishman, Cillian Murphy, who has become the first Irish-born winner of the best actor award for his role as Oppenheimer. It was incredibly positive that Cillian dedicated his Oscar to peacemakers everywhere. Closer to home, I received an email last night from Declan McConaghy about the Newpoint Players from Newry and their production of 'The Shadow of the Glen: Reimagined', John Millington Synge's play as reimagined by Seán Treanor. The Newpoint Players have become the first group to qualify for the final of RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival 2024. After Saturday night's results, the Newpoint Players have won three festivals: Tubbercurry; Ballymoney and Castleblayney. It took home all the following awards: three for best set and decor were won by Tom Carvill; best lighting, Declan McConaghy; two for best supporting actress, Frances Morgan; best supporting actor, Mickey Brannigan; best supporting actor, Lowry Hodgett; two for best actor, Mickey Brannigan; two for best actress, Pauline Lynch; three for most imaginative/ambitious production; best Irish-dialect award; a special award for costumes and masks, Alison Rodgers and Bernie McParland; and two for best director, Seán Joseph Treanor. The late Sean Hollywood would be proud. He was a director of the Newpoint Players. He was also a founding member of our SDLP and a proud Down and Ulster Gael, having played hurling for Down and Ulster.
His niece, Doire Finn, proudly follows in Sean's pathway, as a member of the Newpoint Players and as an elected representative for the SDLP on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. If anyone want to see the play, 'The Shadow of the Glen', it is being presented on 21 March as part of the 70th anniversary of the Newry Drama Festival. The festival commences on 18 March and runs until 23 March. I encourage everyone to attend.
305 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: 0.07 (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: Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies.
- 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 | 0.10 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.04 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.05 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.02 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.07 | 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 | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.04 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.65 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.26 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.04 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.02 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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