Member's statement: Ballymena Unrest
Member's statement by Mr Daniel McCrossan on .
- MLA
- Mr Daniel McCrossan
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 16 June 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Ballymena Unrest
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5010114
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The scenes that we have seen unfold on our streets over the past week are absolutely despicable and disgusting and not reflective of our wider society or how far we have come. There is no place, ever, for racism, hate or violence on our streets. It is entirely unacceptable and unjustifiable for anybody to treat any other member of the community in the way that people have been treated in the past week. The scenes that were shared all over social media and on the news across the world reflect a very depressing picture of this place. There is a requirement on us all, as leaders in our own community, to ensure that we show leadership, that our language is measured and that we consider carefully what we say and the actions that we take before doing anything. Unfortunately, some failed that test last week. Many people's lives were put in danger; many people who call this place their home remain afraid and scared. This is not the Northern Ireland that so many of us worked so hard to build. This is a shared home place for everyone. Over the lifetime of this place, we have been able to travel the world, and doors have been opened to people from right across our island, no matter where we go. We have no right, and no one in our society has any right, to tell people that they are not welcome, burn them out of their homes, attack their property, or terrify children, mothers and daughters or vulnerable people in our community. It is unacceptable to attack our police officers, who are young men and women out doing a job to protect our society. Those scenes were despicable, and I hope that, when she recovers and is feeling much better, the Justice Minister considers establishing special courts over the summer, because we need to send a hard and clear lesson to those who think that they can get away with that behaviour that they will not be getting away with it. They must face the full consequences of the law, and elected Members across this House must support the PSNI in doing that job and call for clear and measured leadership in every part of Northern Ireland. My thoughts are with everybody who has suffered over the past week and with every parent who had to explain to their children what this was.
402 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: 0.07 (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).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.98).
- 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 | 0.16 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.08 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.35 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.07 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.02 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.98 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.59 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.41 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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