Debate contribution: Racist Incidents
Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 12 November 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Committee Business
- Heading
- Racist Incidents
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4658350
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I am not happy about the reasons for the motion but I am glad to speak in a very important debate. As I have said before in the Chamber, racism is another issue that we will never deal with and eradicate unless we talk about it and identify its root causes. I commend the proposer of the motion for bringing it to the House. It is a conversation that we absolutely need to have. We know that none of us is born with hate in our heart and that nobody is born racist, sectarian, misogynistic or any of the other discriminatory mindsets that prevail throughout society and harm others. We know that those attitudes are fostered, learned behaviours and that they ultimately manifest themselves in the most ugly examples of violence, bullying, intimidation and aggression towards the most vulnerable, which we saw during the summer. Therefore, it is right that we have a frank and open conversation about that, address the causes and work together to eradicate them. To that end, I recognise the good work that began with the scoping exercise in September, with those involved with the minority ethnic community and the cross-departmental working group that needs to listen to the experiences of those who are victims of that violence and take on board the learning from that. We can see, across the world — we have seen it, very clearly, in recent days — what happens when the working classes are pitted against each other and when scaremongering and misinformation wins out. We know that the enemy of the working classes does not arrive by dinghy: it arrives by private jet. There is a responsibility and an onus on us, who have a mandate in the House, to call that out and to speak to those who are falling victim to misinformation and blaming other people who are in worse-off positions than they are for the situation that they are in. We must address racism at its core. It all comes from the same supremacist mindset: some parts of a community are better than another just because of the colour of your skin or the religion that you practise or whether you practise at all. We have to call that out. I commend the motion to the House and hope that this starts a period of intensive engagement so that we do not see the same, disgusting scenes next summer as those we saw this year.
409 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: 0.08 (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).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.98).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- 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 | 0.35 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.08 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.51 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.08 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.02 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.98 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.85 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.15 |
| 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 11:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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