Member's statement: Lisburn Rangers Ladies Football Club
Member's statement by Mr David Honeyford on .
- MLA
- Mr David Honeyford
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 21 October 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Lisburn Rangers Ladies Football Club
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4603406
Read the official Assembly record
Text
On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of being at Windsor Park to cheer on Lisburn Rangers Ladies in the Women's Challenge Cup final. What a story and journey those girls have been on. Four years ago, they were in the lowest division, just starting out. After being promoted year-on-year, this season was their first in the Premiership. It is a really young team, and many of the girls have come through the youth age grades. They secured fourth place in their first season in the Premiership and went through to the Challenge Cup final. While they came up short on Saturday night, they should be massively proud of their achievements. Life is a journey, not a destination. It will be exciting to support a team like this in the years ahead, as the girls have a big future in the game. I want to say a massive congratulations, not only to the girls but to those behind the scenes who have helped to create the platform for the girls to perform on. A special mention goes to Ali Dickson and Nigel Farr, the coaching staff and the rest of the committee at Lisburn Rangers. They have helped to create an inclusive environment that brings people together. Throughout Lagan Valley, there are great sports clubs full of volunteers who work tirelessly for our community. Sport unites our community, gives people opportunities and brings our community together, but grassroots sport urgently needs investment. Unfortunately, that has been seriously lacking in recent years, which continues to prevent growth and the development of the facilities that people deserve. Lisburn Rangers are a great example of what could be achieved if match funding were there to help them to realise their dream. With the massive investment in sport that we see in the South, I have repeatedly raised with the Shared Island unit and the Irish Government the question of investing Shared Island funds in sporting clubs in the North. I call on the Minister to engage with Ministers in the South to explore opening Shared Island funding to grassroots clubs in Northern Ireland.
350 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 (0.69).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies.
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.69 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.81 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.09 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.08 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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