Debate contribution: Naomi Long: Intimidation at her Home
Debate contribution by Mrs Sinéad Ennis on .
- MLA
- Mrs Sinéad Ennis
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 13 October 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Matters of the Day
- Heading
- Naomi Long: Intimidation at her Home
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5175307
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I utterly condemn the actions that occurred outside the home of Michael and Naomi Long last week. It was a dark week for politics here: as Mr Tennyson and the Speaker have said, there were attacks on my colleagues' constituency office and then the mob outside Naomi Long's home. There is no justification for that. It is completely unacceptable. I hope that we never again witness the scenes that we saw last week. Language and rhetoric have emanated from the Chamber in recent weeks that have not helped matters. Week in, week out, we have heard a bingo card of dangerous rhetoric from the unionist Benches. It is not enough to stand in the Chamber and condemn those recent actions. Condemnations with a "but" are not condemnations. What message are some Members across the Chamber sending out? Week in, week out, it is a message of fear and suspicion. Members have a responsibility to speak factually about the important issues that face our communities, not to send out lazy dog whistles. We have seen a rise in that over recent weeks and months. There can be no justification for the shameful actions that we saw last week. I hope that no one else, in the Chamber or anywhere else, has to suffer the attacks and abuse that our colleagues suffered last week.
222 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: 0.20 (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 (0.73).
- 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 | 0.44 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.18 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.26 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.12 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.12 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.20 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.04 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.73 |
| Adopts it | 0.23 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.96 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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