Member's statement: Invictus Games 2025
Member's statement by Mr Doug Beattie MC on .
- MLA
- Mr Doug Beattie MC
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 11 February 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Invictus Games 2025
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4793289
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Invictus Games were started in 2014 for injured and sick military personnel. This year's Invictus Games are being held in Vancouver and Whistler in Canada and have over 500 participants from 25 nations. This year, for the first time, Team Afghan Unconquered will be represented. That is a team of Afghan military veterans, which is incredibly important. Also of note, however, is the fact that our own Andy Allen is taking part in three events in the Invictus Games: Nordic skiing, rowing and wheelchair rugby.
Andy was only 20 years of age when he lost his legs after stepping on an IED in Afghanistan. I was serving alongside him at the time. I recommend that you all watch the programme 'Wounded', which outlines Andy's fight for life and his fight to recover from the terrible injuries through which he lost his legs and his eyesight was seriously damaged. Andy runs his own charity, he is an effective and incredible constituency MLA, he has an MBE and, now, he is a sportsman. That is stuff that movies are made of. Sometimes, we do not give credit for what our Members have achieved. Mr Speaker, I hope that you and everybody in the Chamber, regardless of where you sit or what you believe in, will not only congratulate Andy on all that he has achieved but, more so, wish him well as he participates in the games that started yesterday. Hopefully, he can bring us back some success
247 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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.03 | No |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.93 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.03 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.02 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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