Debate contribution: Flooding: East Antrim
Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on .
- MLA
- Mr John O'Dowd
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 10 December 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Flooding: East Antrim
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4715767
Read the official Assembly record
Text
In the lead up to the recent storm, storm Bert, there was, for a period, notification of that storm approaching. My officials managed to visit a number of sites about which they had concerns to check, in particular, drainage and the covers on drains, and whether drains were blocked by any materials. That was the case in the King' Row area, which my officials visited on the Friday and again on the Saturday to ensure that there was no recurrence of previous flooding. They checked as best they could because there are a number of factors involved in the flooding in Kings Row. I have also asked my officials to carry out a review of the flooding there and at Dundonald and in a few other places that were impacted on by flooding in the previous storm to see whether there are any lessons that we can learn from that. At this point, I put on record my appreciation to all the staff who worked over the weekend and put in long hours, from all the agencies that responded to the most recent flood. A lot of the work that they carried out prior to the storm hitting saved a lot of communities from damage and flooding, though it was not a particularly heavy rain event: it was more of a wind event. However, the work that goes on behind the scenes is often unseen and unappreciated. However, I assure Members that significant work was carried out by a multitude of agencies in the run-up to the most recent storm.
260 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: 0.02 (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 (1.00).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.47 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:45 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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