Member's statement: Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal
Member's statement by Mr Stephen Dunne on .
- MLA
- Mr Stephen Dunne
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 4 March 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4832820
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I take the opportunity to mark Marie Curie's great daffodil appeal, which happens every March. Marie Curie is a great charity that seeks to raise awareness of needs and barriers in order to support people at the end of their life and their carers, loved ones and families across Northern Ireland. Marie Curie is a charity that has a special place in the hearts of many people across our country, including mine. Marie Curie's 'Better End of Life Report 2024' found that one in three people were:
"severely or overwhelmingly affected by pain during the last week of life".
Alarmingly, every five minutes in our United Kingdom, someone dies without the end-of-life care that they so desperately need. Those statistics should alarm us all. In Northern Ireland, it is estimated that 90% of people would benefit from a palliative care approach before they pass away. Unfortunately, too many still face barriers and challenges in accessing support when they so greatly need it. I have had the privilege of collecting for the charity on a number of occasions, and I look forward to doing so again. I have always been amazed by the kindness and generosity of people across the country for this great cause. I thank the public of Northern Ireland, who get behind Marie Curie every month of the year but particularly in March to support the cause. Behind every daffodil there is a story. I have always been heartened to hear the stories behind every donation and the various ways that Marie Curie has brought comfort, hope and compassionate end-of-life care and support to families during some of their darkest moments. I hope that today will be a reminder that more could be done to support those at the end of their life and their loved ones. We as an Assembly should commit to working to remove any remaining barriers, and there should rightly be a focus on strategic outcomes and approaches to palliative end-of-life care. It is welcome to see death, dying and bereavement in the Programme for Government. That is important progress, given that almost 4,000 people still miss out on vital end-of-life care in Northern Ireland. Finally, I pay tribute to the many hard-working staff — doctors, nurses and volunteers — who keep Marie Curie's work going all year round, including in the Marie Curie hospice facility. I make a special mention of Marie Curie's North Down fundraising group, which works tirelessly to raise funds across the year.
413 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 | 0.57 | 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 | 0.85 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.12 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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