Debate contribution: Tourism: Failte Ireland’s Brands
Debate contribution by Mr Conor Murphy on .
- MLA
- Mr Conor Murphy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 29 April 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Tourism: Failte Ireland’s Brands
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4486307
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Local political and cultural tours are opportunities to bring tourism benefits, including those from tourism spend, into areas that have not necessarily had a peace dividend. Things like the black taxi tours on the Falls and the Shankill are, I think, the second-biggest attraction in Belfast, without having been seriously promoted. I am sure that, in Derry, the experience of the walls and the Museum of Free Derry could be better promoted as well. As I said, those have brought jobs and income into areas that have not benefited in the past. We will absolutely look at that as part of the strategy. I get all the sensitivities around political and cultural tours, but they are an area of interest for people who come here. They are managed well in other parts of the world. They are also managed well in the South; I am sure that you are familiar with a lot of the tours in Dublin that go around sites of conflict there. They are important attractions. There is a greater curiosity among international visitors about the history and culture of places, as well as about the sense of place. We need to do all that we can to promote those tours.
204 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: 0.09 (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).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.78).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.97).
- Subject area: Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism.
- 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 | 0.07 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.08 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.78 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.09 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.97 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.03 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.76 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.23 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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