Member's statement: Homelessness Awareness Week
Member's statement by Ms Kellie Armstrong on .
- MLA
- Ms Kellie Armstrong
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 1 December 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Homelessness Awareness Week
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5268598
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Many of us and much of the public will be out and about in our towns and cities doing a bit of shopping before Christmas. How many times have any of us walked past someone who is sitting on a cold street? How often do we actually see that person? How did they end up there? Why are they there today? When was the last time that they sat on a comfortable seat or had something healthy to eat? When was the last time someone said a simple "Hello" to them? Today is the start of Homelessness Awareness Week. It runs every year from 1 December to 7 December. This year's theme is "See the person". I ask all MLAs this: when was the last time you saw a homeless person? Too often, homelessness is reduced to statistics, labels or stereotypes: they must be begging, or they must have something wrong. Often, that is completely incorrect. This year, I remind everyone that behind every figure and every headline is a person with hopes, struggles and potential. There is a programme of events on Homeless Connect's website. I encourage every MLA to take a look at the website and to take part in one of those events. I invite all MLAs to go along to an event in the Long Gallery at 1.30 pm today that is being operated by Homeless Connect. At that event, we will launch a major piece of research that has been completed by the Housing Executive on Housing First. The Housing First approach is one of the best-evidenced models from around the world for responding to chronic homelessness. We have chronic homelessness in Northern Ireland. We believe that the launch of that research fits well with this year's theme, because the approach is person-centred, designing and delivering tailored support to suit the individual needs of the person experiencing homelessness. Led by Fiona Boyle and co-authored by Imogen Blood and Nicholas Pleace, the research outlines what Housing First is and what it has done up until now and makes recommendations on how it could be further utilised to respond to chronic homelessness. Please come along to today's event to hear Fiona outline the findings of the research, alongside input from other voices in the homelessness sector. I thank all of the organisations that help people who are homeless every day. I especially thank the health inclusion nurses who work on the ground with so many on our streets. Homelessness can be resolved. Every person in Northern Ireland who does not have a suitable, safe home can have one if every Minister comes together and focuses on homelessness as a priority. It is a key issue in the Programme for Government, and I hope that we will see a commitment across Departments to end homelessness in the upcoming multi-year Budget.
472 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: 0.02 (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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.99).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.81 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.47 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.39 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.12 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:02 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.