Member's statement: A5: GAA President
Member's statement by Mrs Deborah Erskine on .
- MLA
- Mrs Deborah Erskine
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 7 April 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- A5: GAA President
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4890273
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I declare an interest, as I have family members who live along the A5. This is a reminder to all in the Assembly that road infrastructure projects are for everyone in Northern Ireland. I say that because, unfortunately, comments from the GAA president, Jarlath Burns, last week seemed to miss that point. He claimed that the A5 was "a GAA road". I can only the imagine the outcry if the grand master of the Orange Order called it "an Orange road". There are people who seek to dismiss those comments, but those who do so have little concept or understanding of the feeling on the ground. I represent an area in which the upgraded A5 will be constructed. To classify a road as belonging to one section of the community is crass and does not take into account the fact that people from all sections of the community have lost their lives on the A5. Nor does it recognise that the funding was not won by the GAA, never mind the fact that the farmers and landowners who care for the land are trying to manage their own businesses and their future viability at this time. Last week, the DUP agriculture spokesperson, Michelle McIlveen, and I met landowners on their farms to hear their concerns. All that landowners ask for is fairness when they give up their land. Mr Burns's comments are ill founded and disgracefully tone-deaf, given the wider issues that are under consideration. It is taxpayers' hard-earned money that pays for road infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland. No road can be claimed by a sole entity or person. Everybody in the Chamber will recognise, sadly, the number of lives that have been lost on the A5. We send our sympathies to every family. It is important that respect is given to all. I have written to Jarlath Burns to ask that he retracts his comments and recognises the hurt caused to families, some of whom I have spoken to in recent days, who feel that their loss was not reflected by the GAA president's comments. I trust that Mr Burns will reflect on the hurt that he has caused.
361 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: 0.24 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.60); Cultural grievance politics (0.64).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.99).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- 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 | 0.60 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.05 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.64 | Yes |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.12 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.59 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.35 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.24 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.01 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.73 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.26 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:17 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.