Member's statement: Job Losses: Enniskillen
Member's statement by Mrs Deborah Erskine on .
- MLA
- Mrs Deborah Erskine
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 21 May 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Job Losses: Enniskillen
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4491395
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise again to speak about job losses in my constituency. Last Tuesday, 300 workers were told that the BT/EE site will close in October. That is devastating news for the entire constituency, but it is felt most acutely by that global company's employees and their families and friends. As time moves towards October, there can be no doubt that the closure of the site will have an impact on businesses on the high street in Enniskillen and in rural towns and villages across Fermanagh and South Tyrone. That concerns me greatly. Whilst my fight since February has been to retain those jobs, I have always been keen to ensure that my constituency gets a fair share of investment and jobs. I make that plea again today. We urgently need to see a plan for jobs and investment that holds fast to the idea of regional balance that was set out by Minister Murphy and that, I hope, the interim Economy Minister will also work towards. I pay tribute to the work of Invest NI, which has kept in touch with me and engaged with the BT/EE group to try to save the jobs. The chief executive continues to engage with me to find a way forward in supporting the people in Fermanagh and South Tyrone who have lost their jobs and to create options for them. That includes a number of people who did not sign up to the voluntary scheme and who need to find out what their options are. It will not be easy for the 300 people who have lost their jobs. However, we are resolute people in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and I know that our fight will now turn towards creating jobs and drawing down investment in our area. I pay tribute to all in the community who stood side by side in the fight to retain jobs, and there was political support across the spectrum in that fight. I will continue my fight for the area. I call on the Economy Minister to bring forward urgently a plan for my area and a plan for economic regional balance.
355 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).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.84).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.84 | Yes |
| 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 | 0.98 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 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 10:31 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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