Debate contribution: Sectarian Hate Crimes
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 13 October 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Sectarian Hate Crimes
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5175556
Read the official Assembly record
Text
There is no place in society for that type of hate. Every person and every family, regardless of religion or background, is entitled to feel safe and free from threat or intimidation. My Department is engaged in a wide range of work to respond to sectarian hate attacks and to strengthen support for victims of hate crime or for people who feel vulnerable to attack, whether at home, in school, at work or on our streets. What is always evident is that sectarianism, racism and paramilitarism do not help our communities. Paramilitary organisations are an unwanted relic of a troubled past and hold no legitimacy. As I have said many times before, they should disband and allow our communities to move forward. It can be difficult to draw a direct evidential line between paramilitary groups and hate crimes, but let us be clear: communities know what is going on and who is involved. They feel it and see it, and that speaks to the coercion that paramilitary organisations and those who are linked to them still choose to force on people and communities who want nothing to do with racism and hate. Legislative provisions in the proposed sentencing Bill and victims and witnesses of crime Bill will modernise our hate crime law in Northern Ireland and will provide a more robust system to sanction offenders. Direct support for victims of sectarian hate crime is provided though the hate crime advocacy service, which supports victims through the criminal justice process and signposts them to relevant support services. Sectarianism and racism are two sides of the same coin. The work of PCSPs includes actions to tackle hate crime at that local community level. The question of addressing sectarian hate is, however, not solely the role of my Department. That also requires sustained cross-governmental action beyond the criminal justice system if we are to prevent harm from occurring. We all need to redouble our efforts to tackle not just hate crime but the attitudes and language that are the root causes of hate and prejudice and to promote more positive community relations proactively.
350 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 (0.81).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.94).
- 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 | 0.08 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.04 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.81 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.05 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.06 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.94 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 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.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.