Debate contribution: Storm Éowyn: Executive Response
Debate contribution by Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly on .
- MLA
- Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 27 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Ministerial Statement
- Heading
- Storm Éowyn: Executive Response
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4758756
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for his question. The Education Minister has put out a number of statements about the ongoing situation. Two categories of schools are impacted. Well in excess of, I think, 150 schools were damaged in some way by the storm. However, only a small number of those were at risk of not opening. The Education Authority did a huge amount of work over the weekend to address the issues in the schools that could not open. A small number of those schools could not open today. I think that it was around seven schools. A significant number of schools are impacted by a lack of electricity. That number is higher. By yesterday evening, around 80 schools were without electricity. That number has come down, and a number of those schools were able to open this morning. We are waiting for final numbers to come through. We have stressed that parents need to watch out for local information from the school. Look at the school's page and its alerts. Ultimately, electricity will be coming on in various areas throughout the day, and, as it does, those schools will be able to open. The Education Minister considered putting out that list last night, but he was conscious that schools would be connected overnight, some of which would be able to open. That certainly seems to have been the case. We understand that, in all likelihood, between 50 and 60 schools were unable to open today due to a lack of electricity. That was one of the issues that we raised this morning when asking about generators. If we get information from NIE about which schools may not be able to open tomorrow or Wednesday, we can try to secure additional generators and get them sent to the right places so that our pupils can get back into the classroom and get the education that they deserve.
I thank the Member for his question. By the way, I had not noticed that the Education Minister was in the Chamber when I had the audacity to answer the question about education. He advises me that my answer was accurate and that, in fact, tomorrow, potentially only one school will be unable to open due to damage and that there will be a further update at 4.00 pm about the situation with electricity for schools.
In answer to the Member's question, it is important to remember — I know this only because of Barra Best — that the systems, North and South, measure very different things. In Northern Ireland, we are part of the UK-wide system, and there is a different metric in the Republic of Ireland. Red does not mean the same thing in different areas. However, that does not mean that we do not take those things seriously. There was a red alert here, and the response, therefore, was from the PSNI. As I said, I am satisfied that we have been working hard, including with internal communications and coordination between all the agencies. There will always be certain differences, given that there is an international border between the two jurisdictions, but cooperation is key to making sure that, whatever happens, citizens are kept as safe as possible.
538 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: 0.03 (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 (0.71).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.71 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | 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 | 0.82 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.10 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.07 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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