Debate contribution: Parliament Buildings: Dress Code
Debate contribution by Mr Trevor Clarke on .
- MLA
- Mr Trevor Clarke
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 3 December 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Parliament Buildings: Dress Code
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4691218
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for her question. References to wearing sporting paraphernalia are in a number of Assembly Commission policies in order to take account of the different categories of users of Parliament Buildings. The Assembly Commission's staff handbook contains a dignity at work policy, which aims to make Assembly Commission staff aware of the types of behaviour that may cause offence. It also highlights the sources of information and assistance that are available and the procedures for dealing with unwanted and unreasonable offensive behaviours. The dignity at work policy details some of the common forms of unwanted, unreasonable and offensive conduct that it deals with, and it provides specific examples of such conduct. The wearing of distinctive clothing or sportswear could be deemed offensive by others and is, therefore, generally not permitted. The dignity at work policy covers Assembly Commission staff, agency workers and inward secondees. The policy does not cover Members, their support staff or other Building pass-holders who are not Assembly Commission staff or visitors.
168 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: 0.13 (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 (0.96).
- 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.12 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.18 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.14 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.40 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.13 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.96 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.03 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.68 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.22 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.06 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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