Member's statement: Orange Victims Day
Member's statement by Mr Keith Buchanan on .
- MLA
- Mr Keith Buchanan
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 9 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Orange Victims Day
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5085719
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I stand to reflect on 1 September, Orange Victims Day. The date was picked due to the horrendous crime that took place on 1 September 1975, when five innocent men were slaughtered in Tullyvallen Orange Hall, 50 years ago last week. At the weekend, I attended an event in the Apprentice Boys Hall in Londonderry, which included moving tributes that remembered its murdered brethren: 343 men and one woman. We hear from the First Minister for all about ending violence against women and girls, which, indeed, is a major issue. Nobody is doubting that fact. However, how can she refer to ending violence against girls, women and children but, in her next breath, say that there was no alternative? That makes no sense to me. I will read some quotations from this book:
"a 39-year-old married father of two children, was murdered by the IRA ... He was shot as he served customers and died in his wife's arms. A Reserve Constable in the Royal Ulster Constabulary,".
Where was the thought to end violence against women, children and girls there? I could go on, and I will, because I have three minutes and I intend to use that time. Also in the book:
"murdered by the IRA when a booby trap bomb exploded under his car as he drove along ... The 56-year-old ... was married with two children."
That was violence against women and children. Another example:
"the 37-year-old married father of four".
Another example:
"a 28-year-old married father of one, was shot by the IRA in front of his wife and 4-year-old daughter as he arrived for work".
It is only a little book, but thousands of lives were destroyed. There were 343 Orangemen and one woman murdered, and this book covers only some of those murders. One man was murdered by the IRA at his farm whilst leaving milk cans out for collection. His wife was pregnant at the time, and he had a one-year-old daughter. Another gentleman, while working on his farm, was shot at least eight times by four masked IRA gunmen who had emerged from an adjoining farm, where they had taken a hostage. His body was found by his 80-year-old mother. He had no connections to the security forces and was killed simply for being a Protestant. Another gentleman, a 49-year-old married man with three children, was murdered. A 64-year-old married man was murdered along with his wife and daughter. The hypocrisy that we hear daily from the party opposite is as clear as looking through a window. Those are the facts, and you cannot take away from them. I say this to the perpetrators of those crimes: you may have escaped justice in this world, but you certainly will not in the next. Be 100% sure that you will not in the next. Every morning when you wake up, think about the eyes of the victims that you murdered. You saw their eyes. Every night before you go to bed, think about what you did. Sleep well.
505 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.83 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.93); Controversy escalation (0.60).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.88).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- All qualifying thresholds were met.
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 | 0.93 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.35 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.48 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.46 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.60 | Yes |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.14 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.83 | Above qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.03 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.09 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.88 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.64 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.28 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.08 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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