BBC News
By Colm Kelpie
image copyrightPACEMAKER
The tone of debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly has at times been concerning in recent weeks, Speaker Alex Maskey has said.
Opening assembly business on Monday, Mr Maskey said a number of matters have been raised with him by members.
He said this possibly reflected wider political tensions.
Mr Maskey said the absence of the assembly for three years, coupled with the turnaround in MLAs, may have reduced awareness of standards.
He said all MLAs have been written to reminding them of the standards expected.
He also said MLAs Linda Dillon, Pat Sheehan, Emma Sheerin and Martina Anderson, all of Sinn Féin, and Trevor Clarke, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), had been written to in the past week to draw points to their attention for the future , but did not elaborate further.