Debate contribution: Defence Industries
Debate contribution by Miss Deirdre Hargey on .
- MLA
- Miss Deirdre Hargey
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Defence Industries
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4491225
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, and, if you give me a bit of flexibility, I will welcome to the Assembly the Japanese ambassador to the UK, who is on a trade mission here today. I welcome him and the delegation. The local aerospace sector is made up of over 100 companies, employing 8,000 workers and contributing £1·9 billion to the local economy. The sector is recognised globally for its world-class manufacturing and its innovation, which is founded on robust research, collaboration, world-leading academic institutions, skills and experience. As a region, we supply components and parts for all major aircraft programmes. Local companies manufacture one in every three aircraft seats for the global aerospace industry. The motion refers to apprenticeships, which are key to the success of the industry. The aerospace sector here has been at the forefront of providing over 500 apprenticeships to the local economy in the past few years, and work is ongoing to encourage young people into engineering and to showcase the sector as a future career for our school-leavers. The motion also refers to support for SMEs. Our aerospace supply chain is dominated by highly productive SMEs that provide good jobs across the region. The North is the leading region in SC21 gold awards, a globally recognised accreditation in excellence for quality and delivery. Invest NI works closely with the sector to promote the supply chain and to explore new international opportunities through inward investment visit programmes. My Department and Invest NI work to support the sector through investment, research and development, training and international trade support. Building on the sector's core manufacturing capacity, Invest NI has engaged with the sector to highlight diversification opportunities. Alternative high-value advanced manufacturing sectors include space, advanced air mobility, mid tech, EV infrastructure, robotics and the hydrogen economy. Opportunities in aligned high-value sectors could enable our supply chain to pivot and diversify its customer base, and a number of our companies are already seeing success in those sectors, including space, with Resonate Testing in Newry providing testing for the James Webb telescope programme and Springco providing springs for the latest satellite mission to Jupiter. I also welcome the sector's involvement in city deal projects that will result in an advanced manufacturing innovation centre in Belfast, offering major opportunities for SMEs to collaborate and to work with the leading research organisations. The global aerospace industry has a commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. This will be driven by our research base in universities as well as innovative solutions including hydrogen fuel, advanced composites and new aircraft platforms that are very different from what we see flying in the skies today. That aligns with the economic vision that Conor Murphy set out here a few weeks ago. My Department and Invest NI continue to support the local aerospace sector with the high-quality jobs that it provides.
477 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: 0.02 (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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.51 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.98 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.01 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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