Member's statement: Open Botanic
Member's statement by Mr Matthew O'Toole on .
- MLA
- Mr Matthew O'Toole
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 17 September 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Open Botanic
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4536816
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Last week, I paid tribute to a wonderful community event in South Belfast, and I am delighted to say that I am able to do so again. This past weekend, on Sunday, there was an event on Botanic Avenue — just around the corner from my constituency office — called Open Botanic. Just over a month ago, we saw horrible, appalling and shaming scenes on Botanic Avenue and in that part of inner South Belfast. Those scenes do not represent the people of South Belfast, nor do they represent any of the communities that call South Belfast home. On Sunday past, however, we saw South Belfast's true diversity. Botanic Avenue was closed to traffic, and it was, amazingly, another gloriously sunny day, just as we had had for the events in Ormeau Park and in Finaghy a week or two before. On Botanic Avenue, we witnessed a huge range of diversity. We saw the Anaka Women's Collective, samba bands and flamenco bands. We also saw flute bands. The Pride of Lagan Valley and the Finaghy True Blues were there representing the Belfast Bands Forum. We had Friends of the Field, which does wonderful conservation work beside Botanic Gardens. The event really gave a beautiful and inspiring insight into the diversity of South Belfast and how the plurality of the constituency and place works so well together. It was a glorious, cross-community, family day. It was diverse, and, yes, it was sunny. There was great food on offer and great experiences to be had. That is so important to me, because I am very proud to represent the constituency. I am also proud to live in the community and to work just around the corner on University Street. Walking down Botanic Avenue on Sunday, I nearly had to put on sun cream. It was not quite as sunny as it had been in Ormeau Park the week before, but it reminded me of the wonderful, shared community that is South Belfast. As I said, we had the Belfast Bands Forum there, the Anaka Women's Collective and representatives from right across the community. It was an inspiring and wonderful day and a reminder of what is the best of South Belfast and, indeed, the best of Belfast as a city.
378 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: 0.06 (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 (0.56).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- 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 | 0.20 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.15 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.04 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.06 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.56 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.43 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.89 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.03 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.03 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.02 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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