Member's statement: Paramilitary Extortion: Protection Money
Member's statement by Mr Jonathan Buckley on .
- MLA
- Mr Jonathan Buckley
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 17 February 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Paramilitary Extortion: Protection Money
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5394300
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Often, in the Assembly, Members stand up to speak out for business. Quite often, they stand up to recognise the challenges that businesses face, and rightly so. That means that, when we look at today's headlines, we should all look upon them with disgust to see that there is still paramilitary involvement in Northern Ireland in holding businesses in fear and to ransom for protection money.
It does not matter what hue or section of society such groups purport to come from: it is wrong and dangerous that we have paramilitaries that think that they have control over our business community and can extort them for money for so-called protection whilst the PSNI says that it can do nothing about it. I do not agree with that. I believe that, as an Assembly, we should state clearly that paramilitary influences have no place in our society, regardless of where they come from. Our businesses should be left to thrive. Our business community should be propped up and should prosper. Businesses pay taxes. Quite often, in this place, we talk about the huge challenges that they continue to face. Many of them, including long-held family businesses, face the threat of extinction. I listened to the headlines today, and it was beyond ridiculous to hear that, in 2026, businesspeople still live in fear of getting a tap on the shoulder about a threat to their personal life, family life or business. I call on the PSNI to show clearly how it will stamp that out of our society, because, certainly, the Assembly will be unified and clear in saying that groups that extort businesses or communities have no place here.
278 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: 0.07 (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 (0.57).
- 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 | 0.06 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.05 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.06 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.57 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.07 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.43 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.57 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.91 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.07 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:51 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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