Member's statement: Farmers: Remembrance and Protection
Member's statement by Mr Robbie Butler on .
- MLA
- Mr Robbie Butler
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 9 June 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Farmers: Remembrance and Protection
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4996981
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I bring to the attention of the House a service of remembrance that was held yesterday in St John's Church of Ireland in Moneymore called 'Life Beyond'. I think that it was the third such ecumenical service. It is run by Rural Support and Embrace FARM. The purpose of the service is to remember farmers who have died by accident whilst farming and those affected by mental health and, unfortunately, death by suicide on farms. I was excited when I became Chair of the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs six months ago, because agriculture is so fundamentally important to everyone across Northern Ireland. We rightly hold up our agrisector and our farmers as some of the best in the world. We produce some of the best food in the world. We eat it and export it, but we do not shout about it enough. However, I did not know about the physical and mental toll on farmers. Over the past six months, it has become evident to me that there is much more work that we need to do. I have said in many speeches that I was in the fire service. You all know that. Everybody understands that being a firefighter is a very dangerous job — people rightly hold you up — but steps have been taken over decades to improve safety for firefighters. The same is true of the Prison Service and the Police Service. Anywhere where there is a calculable risk, the Government take action to protect the lives of the people who serve. I contend today that we undervalue our farmers and their families. Many families sat in that service yesterday having lost a loved one, whether through an accident on the farm or suicide. Every day of their life, farmers work to provide the food that we need to survive and that is so important to our economy in this country; it sustains rural towns and communities. I pay tribute to the families across Northern Ireland, this island and these islands who have been affected by death on a farm. Those people serve us every day to give us the best that they can, often unrecognised. I also offer this challenge locally: we can and must do better to protect their lives. We must take action, and it must be more than words. We must embrace our farmers in a way that shows that we value them and that we are going to protect them.
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: 0.03 (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 (0.78).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.78 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.50 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.28 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.15 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.06 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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