Member's statement: Victims and Survivors of Terrorism

Member's statement by Ms Cheryl Brownlee on 17 February 2026.

MLA

Ms Cheryl Brownlee

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

17 February 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Victims and Survivors of Terrorism

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5394279

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Across Northern Ireland, countless families still carry the scars of violence. Whether physical or emotional, the scars are permanent, and families' lives have been changed forever by acts of evil that no community should ever have to endure. Too often, their suffering has been overlooked, ignored or spoken about as if it were some distant memory, but, for victims and survivors, it is very much real, lived experience. Today, we see so many attempts to airbrush history: brazen attempts to rewrite the horrors of the past and glorify the actions of the IRA. My party has always been resolute in saying that there was always an alternative and that all violence is wrong. Groups such as the Wolfe Tones are conditioning our young people to see terrorism as normal. Songs such as 'Celtic Symphony', 'Come Out Ye Black & Tans' and 'Rifles of the I.R.A' and chants of "Ooh ahh, up the 'RA" should not be the norm in any modern-day society. Sammy Heenan, a well-respected victims' campaigner, has rightly condemned the advertising of the upcoming Wolfe Tones concert at the SSE Arena on radio stations across Northern Ireland this week. Recalling the harrowing events of May 1985, when his father, William, was shot dead by the Provisional IRA outside his home in County Down, Sammy said:

"I followed a trail of blood to an image that would never, ever leave me — an image of my daddy lying dead. My father was a civilian, he was an innocent man who didn't deserve to be forced to his knees and shot twice in the head. He never hurt or offended anyone and was not engaged in terrorism and I think young people need to know how hurtful the music of groups like Kneecap or The Wolfe Tones is to innocent victims."

The advertisement of those groups on national radio causes enormous hurt and retraumatises the victims of terrorism. Today, we call on media outlets and venues such as the SSE to have consideration for victims and survivors. Advertising campaigns that promote ticket sales and events designed to romanticise the actions of the IRA are an affront to all those who have suffered at the hands of terrorism. Today, we also remember the innocent victims of the bombing at La Mon, 48 years ago. We must never forget the suffering that the IRA has inflicted on Northern Ireland. My party will always stand with the innocent victims and survivors of terrorism.

410 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Second assessment

Jev’s answers did not settle this record, so a second model, claude-opus-5-5, read the same text (without the MLA’s name or party) and gave its reasons on 21 October 2026. How the second assessment works

Verdict

Not flagged

Public interest or divisiveness

Mixed

Against the published rubric

The statement centres on victims of terrorism. It condemns music and chants it says "glorify the actions of the IRA", quotes a bereaved relative and remembers La Mon. The rubric treats seeking action against material that glorifies paramilitary violence and retraumatises victims as a genuine concern rather than a symbolic one, and the text does not blame nationalists or any whole community. It does stretch towards Irish rebel music more broadly, for example by naming 'Come Out Ye Black & Tans' and by calling on venues and media over a concert's advertising. However, that sits within a victims-focused argument rather than an attack on a community's culture as such.

Public interest or divisiveness

The main thrust is giving voice to victims, opposing the normalisation of paramilitary violence among young people, and asking broadcasters and venues to consider "the hurt" caused. That is substantive and in the public interest. There is also a divisive edge: it takes one side of a familiar flashpoint over republican music, folds older rebel songs in with 'up the 'RA' chants, and seeks to discourage a concert being promoted. Both elements are present, but the victims' focus predominates.

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:39 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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