Member's statement: STEPS Mental Health Charity
Member's statement by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 28 May 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- STEPS Mental Health Charity
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4492049
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise on a somewhat bittersweet note to congratulate STEPS, a mental health charity in my area, on its 12th anniversary. STEPS was founded almost 12 years ago — it is having a celebration at the end of this week — to address the epidemic that we have in our area. At that time, Draperstown was the suicide capital of mid-Ulster, and the community, including some concerned families and people who had been affected, came together to try to break the stigma of suicide; to raise support for those affected by it, including those who had lost loved ones; to tell people that it was OK not to be OK; and to help people with mental ill health.
It is particularly poignant that STEPS's 12th anniversary occurs at the end of this week, given that our community has recently been affected by the tragedy of suicide once again, the second in just over two months. It is an important conversation to have, and it is something that we need to speak about in order to break the stigma of suicide and to support one another. I congratulate all those who volunteer for STEPS on the various initiatives that they run, from hillwalking to yoga and Pilates, and the counselling that they provide, but there is still an awful lot for us to do. It would be remiss of me not to mention the incident over the weekend in Cookstown. I tell the migrant worker population that has made its home there and in the surrounding areas across mid-Ulster that we do not tolerate or condone the racist graffiti that we saw daubed on shopfronts across Cookstown at the weekend and that the people of mid-Ulster stand in solidarity with all who have made their home there, welcome them and recognise the contribution that they have made. The negativity that surrounds those sorts of incidents and the impact that they have on people's mental health cannot be ignored, given the week that is in it.
334 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: 0.05 (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).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.98).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- 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 | 0.12 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.11 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.17 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.05 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.02 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.98 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.93 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.06 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
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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