Topical question AQT 1967/22-27
Topical question by Mrs Sinéad Ennis on .
- MLA
- Mrs Sinéad Ennis
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 26 January 2026
- Type
- Topical question
- Assembly reference
- AQT 1967/22-27
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5340847
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Ms Ennis asked the Minister for Communities, given that demonstrating empathy is not a courtesy but a fundamental part of responsible leadership, whether he accepts that he showed no empathy to the people who were driven out of their homes by violent, racist mobs in Ballymena.
46 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Follow-ups by the same MLA in the Chamber
These were assessed together with this record:
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: 0.41 (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 (0.85).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
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 | 0.28 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.05 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.08 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.13 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.28 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.20 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.41 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.08 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.85 |
| Adopts it | 0.07 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.51 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.49 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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