Member's statement: Ethan McReynolds
Member's statement by Mr Peter McReynolds on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter McReynolds
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 13 January 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Ethan McReynolds
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5315858
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Mr Speaker, I seek your indulgence for a few moments to acknowledge the birth of my recently born son, Ethan McReynolds. Ethan was born just a few short weeks ago and has completely changed my and my wife's life and thinking. On behalf of us both, I take this opportunity to put on record my thanks to all the consultants, midwives, nurses and staff at the Ulster Hospital and the Holywood Arches medical centre in east Belfast for their input and expertise over the past year and during my wife's pregnancy. I also thank my party leadership and colleagues, who have greatly helped us over the past while with the changes that have come before us as a family. Friends told me recently when they first met Ethan that 2025-26 is a pretty scary time to welcome a child into the world, and they were right. The manosphere is a thing. Men such as Andrew Tate, Tommy Robinson and HSTikkyTokky provide a platform for toxic masculinity for the next generation to consume, and their views are seen as normal and commonplace. My wife and I want to raise Ethan in a way that is loving, empathetic, forward-looking and compassionate in order for him to always help others, be the best that he can be and, ultimately, respect women while doing so. That is so important in this day and age, given the Wild West that is social media, where, in the name of so-called free speech, anything goes but respect. We see disturbing scenes coming out of America every day, as men, women and children are rounded up and removed from society. Most recently, Renee Good, who had links to Northern Ireland, was murdered in cold blood just days ago by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The US president represents the hatred that he has emboldened, and the vice president has suggested that ICE go door to door to check residency papers. History is now repeating itself. We are a small country, but we continually punch above our weight. We in the Assembly have a year and a half to make a difference to the lives of everyone here in Northern Ireland, including newborns such as Ethan. Let us do just that by embracing positive politics, showing leadership and not wasting the time that we have left.
389 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: 0.25 (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 (0.81).
- 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 | 0.56 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.08 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.04 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.10 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.44 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.08 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.25 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.13 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.81 |
| Adopts it | 0.05 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.73 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.24 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.03 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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