Topical question AQT 601/22-27
Topical question by Mr Matthew O'Toole on .
- MLA
- Mr Matthew O'Toole
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 7 October 2024
- Type
- Topical question
- Assembly reference
- AQT 601/22-27
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4579174
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Mr O'Toole asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister, given that the deputy First Minister just mentioned sensitivity in relation to victims and earlier acknowledged the deep hurt felt by victims of paramilitaries and said that 90% of murders during the Troubles were committed by paramilitaries, how, she thinks, victims of loyalist paramilitaries feel when, 30 years after the loyalist ceasefire, Ministers meet representatives of those paramilitaries to discuss policy.
71 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Follow-ups by the same MLA in the Chamber
These were assessed together with this record:
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: 0.38 (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 (0.47).
- Subject area: Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
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 | 0.35 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.07 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.11 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.24 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.20 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.47 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.38 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.47 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.06 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.31 |
| Adopts it | 0.16 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.95 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.05 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 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?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.