Member's statement: Beth Adger MBE
Member's statement by Mr Paul Frew on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Frew
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 24 March 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Beth Adger MBE
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4864515
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Today, I pay tribute to Alderman Beth Adger MBE, Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, who sadly passed away on Wednesday of last week. We all knew her as Beth, and she was an absolute champion for her community. She was first elected to Ballymena Borough Council in 2005, serving the people of Ballymena South. After the review of public administration (RPA), she represented the Braid area. That gave her immense pride, as she was a Carnalbanagh woman and she was able to represent that townland when it came over to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and the Braid area. She represented her people with great strength and courage.
Where did she find the strength and courage to represent so many people? It was in living a life of service and dedication, but she also struggled in life. At the age of 17, she was diagnosed with cancer. She had to leave the townland of Carnalbanagh — the hill country — to go to London, to Fulham Hospital, to take part in one of the first trials of chemotherapy. Beth beat cancer at that young age, and she dedicated her life to service. Beth was not only a great politician and elected representative but a great mother. She brought up not only her own children, of which there were many, but children whom she fostered. She touched the hearts of tens of children: if it had not been for Beth, who knows where they would be today? She saved and nurtured those children, and she brought them up as if they were her own because, for Beth, they were her own. It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Beth, but we remember the legacy that she has left: in my party, the DUP; in Ballymena; in Mid and East Antrim Borough Council; and not only in those places but across the Province. Beth represented the council on a lot of the regional councillor associations, and she was much travelled and much experienced. We will miss you, Beth, in Ballymena and in the DUP.
348 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.02 | 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 | 0.51 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.16 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.13 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.12 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.04 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:10 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.