Member's statement: Sarah Montgomery
Member's statement by Ms Cara Hunter on .
- MLA
- Ms Cara Hunter
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 30 June 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Sarah Montgomery
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5042670
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I speak today with a heavy heart, following the devastating murder of a woman in Donaghadee, Sarah Montgomery, who was just 27 years old and pregnant. It was an unspeakable act of violence that has robbed her children of their mother and shattered a family for ever. There is no grief more profound than that of children torn from the love, safety and care of their mother. Their lives have undoubtedly been changed for ever, and I offer my deepest condolences to the family at the centre of this horror. We must ensure that they are supported not just in the days ahead but on the long road that follows. Let me be clear: what happened is not an isolated incident but part of a wider and worsening epidemic of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland. We are failing women; we are failing children; and we are failing to meet the crisis with the significant urgency, coordination and political will that it so greatly requires. Too many women in our communities live in fear: in fear in their home, in fear on the streets and in fear in their relationships. That fear is not imagined but real and justified. Sadly, the statistics tell a grim truth and speak for themselves, but it must never be accepted as normal. While I welcome the recent publication of the Executive's strategy to tackle and end violence against women and girls, I remain gravely concerned that, without the necessary funding, it will amount to little more than words on paper. Strategies do not save lives: action does, and investment does. As a north-west representative, I have a profound concern about the lack of investment there, particularly for groups such as Women's Aid, which does such fantastic work and yet is painfully underfunded. We know that that can cost lives. We must also confront the deeper systemic issues that enable such violence: misogyny, social inequality and the growing threat of online radicalisation, which warps attitudes and worsens harm towards women and girls. The Executive must work with the UK Government to tackle urgently the root causes of those issues and ensure that we secure the correct investment.
Sarah's life mattered. Her children's future matters. Unless we treat this epidemic with the seriousness that it demands, more women will die. They will be murdered, and, sadly, more children will grow up without their mothers. That is not a future that we can accept: not in this Assembly, not in this society and not in our name.
422 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 (0.89).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.92).
- Subject area: Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups.
- 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 | 0.08 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.89 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.05 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.92 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.08 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.62 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.38 |
| 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 12:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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