Debate contribution: Coronavirus Act 2020 (Registration of Deaths and Still-Births) (Extension) (No.3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on .
- MLA
- Mr Gerry Carroll
- Party at the time
- People Before Profit Alliance
- Date
- 14 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Coronavirus Act 2020 (Registration of Deaths and Still-Births) (Extension) (No.3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4589592
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The extension to the legislation will hopefully make very difficult, tragic and heartbreaking experiences, such as child deaths and stillbirths, a bit less painful to navigate. I am sure that most people outside the Building will welcome the change or have done so. The Minister should be aware of a matter that I raised at Committee with the officials, who are in the Chamber. It was about the lack of provision and support for people who do not have English as their first language and how much consideration had been given to that. Obviously, society here predominantly uses English everywhere. Navigating that can be difficult at the best of times for people who might not have been born here or who do not have English as their first language, so I can only imagine how difficult it would be for anybody to navigate the situation of having a stillbirth or the death of a child. It is really awful to think of. Some translation services are provided by the GRO, about which we were briefed last week or the week before through correspondence, but I am not sure whether those are wide-ranging enough. Given that the legislation has, once again, been delayed, this issue has not been considered as part of the original drafting, so I urge the Minister and her officials to look at that aspect. It might affect only a small number of people, but if we can make a painful and tragic experience much easier to navigate for people who do not have English as their first language, it will be good legislation and in line with the other things mentioned by Members. I urge the Minister and her team to look at that.
287 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: 0.04 (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 (0.90).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy.
- 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 | 0.05 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.90 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.88 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.11 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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