Member's statement: Deafblind UK: Tribute to Alex Patterson
Member's statement by Ms Sian Mulholland on .
- MLA
- Ms Sian Mulholland
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 17 June 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Deafblind UK: Tribute to Alex Patterson
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4496193
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I pay tribute to Alex Patterson and his teenage daughter Jana, who are both from Ballymoney. Alex is a 54-year-old father of two teenage daughters and is a former youth worker. In his mid-40s, his sight began to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy in 2019. He is now registered as severely sight-impaired or blind. Alex has spoken about the social isolation that the diagnosis led to and some of the challenges that he has faced. He is a prolific campaigner on the issue of pavement parking in Ballymoney and beyond. Last week, after a send-off by the Lord Mayor, Micky Murray, he walked from City Hall all the way to Stormont, where he was welcomed by my colleagues from the Infrastructure Committee, Peter McReynolds MLA and Andy McMurray MLA. Alex raised over £1,400 from his endeavour, and he has three key asks. He wants to support the ongoing work of Deafblind, which has been a massive support to him since his diagnosis. He wants to raise awareness of the challenges and consequences that pavement parking causes for those who are sight-impaired. He wants to highlight the impact on those from the blind community of dogs being off-lead in public areas. I pay tribute to Alex and his daughter Jana for their brilliant walk. Thankfully, the weather was kind to them. He has raised over £1,400 for Deafblind, and we should be mindful of the blind community when we park and in how we engage with its members.
250 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).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.29 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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