Debate contribution: Mobile Phone Coverage: West Belfast
Debate contribution by Miss Órlaithí Flynn on .
- MLA
- Miss Órlaithí Flynn
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 May 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Mobile Phone Coverage: West Belfast
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4964577
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
I begin by thanking the Minister for being here this afternoon on an issue that is extremely important to the constituents whom we represent in West Belfast. I will give a brief bit of background. We have been getting feedback from residents and workers from across our constituency that they have been facing severe mobile network problems. We have been receiving those concerns and complaints for some considerable time. Reports have been showing constant call failures, poor or no mobile data, very patchy 4G and 5G and reliance on unstable Wi-Fi in people's day-to-day functions. That has deeply affected healthcare access, work, education and personal safety. The problems have reportedly worsened after attacks of vandalism on local masts. The Minister, her officials and the network companies will be aware of those attacks, which, again, have taken place over a sustained period. We are also acutely aware of those attacks and their impact on the situation.
We welcome the recent results of a survey that my colleague the Sinn Féin MP for West Belfast, Paul Maskey, launched. The reason for that survey was to explore the extent of the mobile phone signal black spots that were being reported in the constituency. The survey had a fantastic response rate, with 2,602 responses. That figure clearly shows the level of frustration that is out there because of those poor signal and connectivity issues. My colleague Aisling Reilly will touch on that in more detail. She will provide an in-depth breakdown of the areas that have been worst affected and give some personal accounts of how that is directly impacting on our constituents and the quality of people's daily life. I will provide a very brief summary of the key issues that the survey found. It found that the signal issues are widespread across West Belfast; the problems have persisted for over a year with no permanent repair; and health, work and personal safety are being seriously affected. I am conscious of a story that was in the news as recently as yesterday about a young woman who was, disgracefully, sexually assaulted on the Glen Road. It is even the thought of that, do you know what I mean? If you are out for a walk or a jog in West Belfast at 5.00 am, 6.00 am or 7.00 am, you should be safe undertaking such a simple activity. Even the reassurance of having a secure signal on your phone would definitely mean a lot. I know that signal issue is particularly bad in the Glen Road area. Some of the other survey findings were that residents are being charged full price for their connections despite getting little or no service, and there is growing anger and distrust towards mobile providers. The survey revealed that 87% of people rated their signal as poor or very poor and, shockingly, only 3% of respondents stated that their signal was good or excellent. A staggering 83% experienced frequent dropped calls, indicating a severe service quality issue in the area, and 28% of people had issues with their service at home, with over 50% struggling with signal everywhere.
Those stats clearly illustrate the issues that communities face with signal across West Belfast and, hopefully, the need for some action and improvements. We are engaging with the relevant agencies on repairs to the damaged equipment, as well as bringing a case for an improved signal to phone companies in London. Too many people have told us horror stories about not being able to contact emergency services, missing appointments and being isolated from family. The priority for Sinn Féin is to hopefully deliver better infrastructure and signal to workers and families in West Belfast. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response today and to getting her assessment and feedback on the issue.
640 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: 0.05 (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 (0.91).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.99).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.05 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.49 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.21 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.16 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.12 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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