Member's statement: Poppy Appeal: Intimidation
Member's statement by Ms Diane Forsythe on .
- MLA
- Ms Diane Forsythe
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 4 November 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Poppy Appeal: Intimidation
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5216073
Read the official Assembly record
Text
This year's Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal was officially launched on Thursday 23 October. Many of us will wear a poppy proudly in memory of the fallen of our nation and for the future of the living. The sale of remembrance poppies and donations enable practical, financial and emotional support to be given to our armed forces community. I wear my poppy with pride. Last week, I was made aware of a sinister threat to poppy sellers at Tesco in Newry. The faceless group behind the threat called on Tesco to:
“immediately remove such offensive displays, otherwise local republicans may have no choice but to seek to take action to ensure they are removed”.
That is disgraceful. Online intimidation is disgraceful. All intimidation is absolutely disgraceful. Newry city was the scene of many shocking and heinous attacks during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Those attacks resulted in the murder of two British Army soldiers, one member of the British Territorial Army and four members of the Ulster Defence Regiment. Three former members and 21 serving members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary also lost their lives to terrorists. The humble poppy pays tribute to all of them. To those poppy sellers in Newry, volunteering their time to support that valuable charity and its work to support our armed forces community, I say, "Thank you. We stand with you". I thank all the poppy sellers across the country for their dedication, and, of course, I thank our armed forces for their selfless service to us all. The Members on this side of the House will always remember those who fought in service of our country and those who died in defence of our freedoms and way of life. We will stand up for everyone's right to sell a poppy without the fear of intimidation. We wear our poppies with pride.
"At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them."
323 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: 0.13 (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 (0.92).
- Subject area: Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism.
- 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 | 0.32 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.05 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.28 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.08 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.14 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.22 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.13 | 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) | 0.92 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.45 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.32 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.22 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:38 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.