Member's statement: Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust: Colin and Eithne Bell
Member's statement by Mr Justin McNulty on .
- MLA
- Mr Justin McNulty
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 11 May 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust: Colin and Eithne Bell
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5523599
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Today, I congratulate Eithne and Colin Bell as they prepare to step back from the day-to-day running of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust after dedicating 13 years to helping families to repatriate loved ones who, sadly, passed away while abroad. Eithne and Colin founded the trust in 2013 following the sudden death of their son Kevin in New York. In the depths of their grief, they decided to use the funds raised to repatriate Kevin to Ireland to establish a charity to help other families who found themselves in the awful situation where a loved one has died abroad. In doing so, they created a powerful and permanent legacy for their son Kevin.
After having experienced huge difficulties bringing Kevin's remains home, Eithne and Colin wanted to make sure that there was somewhere to which grieving families could reach out for financial and practical support when facing the same situation. In 13 years, the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust has helped return 2,500 loved ones home to their families from almost 100 countries. That is 2,500 families who have been touched by Eithne and Colin's kindness. Eithne and Colin have supported those families in some of their darkest, most challenging times by lifting the financial burden and that of navigating complex systems in order to bring loved ones' remains home. Based in the Whitegates Business Park in Newry, the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust is the only organisation of its kind in the world. What an incredible achievement by Eithne and Colin, and what a wonderful legacy for Kevin. Eithne and Collie, I wish you Godspeed. Go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.
270 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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.03 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.75 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.17 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.05 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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