Member's statement: Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust
Member's statement by Mr Daniel McCrossan on .
- MLA
- Mr Daniel McCrossan
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 3 June 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4492917
Read the official Assembly record
Text
In 2013, following the death of young Kevin Bell, who sadly passed away in New York, the community came together, rallied with the Bell family to support them and raised significant funds to bring Kevin's remains home to Ireland. As a result of that and to build on a tremendous legacy, Kevin's father, Colin Bell, established the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. As of today, 11 years on, 1,800 families have benefited from the support of the trust. The impact that it has at a difficult and tragic time for many families is huge and significant, and many are grateful for the huge amount of work and support that the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust provides to those families in those difficult circumstances. Indeed, this week, in my constituency, I have witnessed first-hand the huge benefit and relief that the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust has brought to a family that is suffering tremendous loss and pain. On 3 May, young Jamie Sandhu passed away in Australia in difficult and sad circumstances. It was a great shock to his family and friends across Strabane who knew and loved him. He came from a loving and caring close family who are rooted in education and in the Strabane community. Immediately, without hesitation, Colin Bell and his trust came to that family's aid and brought their son, brother and grandchild home to his family. I can tell you, Mr Speaker, and I will put it firmly on the record that the gratitude of that family to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust is beyond words. The entire community, in the face of the deeply devastating news, rallied to the aid of the Doherty family in the last few days and, within three days, raised £20,000 for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. In our community, we are so fortunate to have pillars such as the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust that are upholding all of us in difficult times. It goes without saying that the Doherty, Callaghan and Sandhu family are deeply appreciative of that support, as are the other 1,800 families who have had loved ones returned to Ireland and, indeed, to other areas. In the House today, on behalf of all Members, we say this firmly on the record: thank you to Colin Bell and his family for what they have done. Our thoughts are with the family of Jamie Sandhu, who are suffering the deep pain of loss this week.
405 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: 0.03 (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 (1.00).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.07 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging 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 | 0.77 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.08 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.07 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.02 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:28 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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