Debate contribution: Fires in the Mourne Mountains
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 7 April 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Question for Urgent Oral Answer
- Heading
- Fires in the Mourne Mountains
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4890876
Read the official Assembly record
Text
We are doing all we can.
I hear Mr Buckley chuntering from a sedentary position. The situation in the countryside is really serious. The impact on Fire and Rescue Service personnel and resources is significant. I will be clear: the situation that is unfolding is really quite concerning. I say to people that it is important that we do all that we can to ensure that we do not have any more incidents in our countryside. I am doing all that I can to support the people who are affected by this. We do a lot of engagement with non-governmental organisations, which we also fund. The Mourne Heritage Trust is an example of that, as we give it grant support. I will be meeting it this evening because it plays a critical role, and we will continue to support it. I thank everyone who is working on the issue.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has specialist ATVs that have been upgraded with additional equipment, including a portable pump. Those vehicles are pre-positioned at the following locations, or rather, this is where they are meant to be, as they are probably out and about at present: Ballycastle, Coleraine and Omagh fire stations and Sprucefield police station. Their deployment has proved to be invaluable, especially to the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, and I thank the Northern Ireland Environment Agency for its planning and for the deployment of the vehicles.
I thank the Member. He rightly points out that the fires are not just in the Mournes. There have also been fires in Donegal, for example, and in Galloway in Scotland, so the issue goes beyond Northern Ireland. I will pick up the Member's point and raise it with the Health Minister. I am answering questions as Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, but we need to work together, and I will speak to the Minister of Health because he has responsibility for the Fire and Rescue Service.
We will do that in the fullness of time. In many cases, the fires are in designated sites. They are jewels in the crown of our nature and biodiversity, and they are being destroyed. That is the real worry for me: it is not just about the risk to lives and livelihoods and to farms and houses but about the implications for our environment. In due course, we will calculate the impact on our environment. It does not need to be like this. We need to get control of it, and I am really worried by the weather forecast for the days ahead.
431 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 (0.72).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.05 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.72 | 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 | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:18 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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