The key facts

  • The DUP has suspended joint events with First Minister Michelle O’Neill and blocked her participation in the Council of the Nations and Regions economic meeting
  • The DUP has ended joint events with First Minister Michelle O'Neill and blocked her participation in the National Economic Council
  • Carla Lockhart said she would “go her own way” if O’Neill is not removed; the Belfast Telegraph reports her impending departure from the party
  • Other parties in the assembly criticised the DUP’s decision, calling it “performative” and harmful to the region’s economy
  • Other parties in the assembly criticised the DUP's decision, calling it 'grandstanding' and harmful to the region's economy

DUP internal conflict and sanctions against the First Minister

The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Gavin Robinson, has said he does not want MP Carla Lockhart to leave the party, adding: “We all share one view — Michelle O’Neill’s behaviour requires political sanctions.” The trigger was unionist anger over Sinn Féin’s participation in protests that prevented a contentious Orange Order march from proceeding along the largely nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

What the party decided and what threatens Lockhart

On Thursday the DUP confirmed that Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will not take part in joint events with O’Neill, and that permission for the First Minister to operate in single-mode will not be granted. Robinson described the party group’s decision to end engagement with O’Neill as unanimous and characterised it as the “consequences” of the First Minister going “beyond the bounds of her pledge of office”. In addition, the same day the DUP blocked O’Neill’s participation in the Council of the Nations and Regions economic meeting, where the Prime Minister and the heads of all devolved administrations were due to gather. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Lockhart is expected to leave the party. In a letter to colleagues she wrote that she would “go her own way” if O’Neill is not removed from the post of First Minister — which, at her demand, would require Little-Pengelly to step down from her post. Last week Lockhart had already left the party’s ruling body over Robinson’s refusal to withdraw Little-Pengelly. Her position was backed by other DUP figures: assembly member Diane Forsythe called for O’Neill to be “removed from office”, while Maurice Bradley noted that this “would not in itself require the assembly to be dissolved”.

Reaction from other parties

The DUP’s decision drew criticism from almost all other parties in the assembly. O’Neill’s Sinn Féin colleague Chris Hazzard said the First Minister had “not breached” the pledge, calling the DUP’s actions a “pathetic, petulant and damaging” performative step that hits local businesses, workers and families awaiting investment in public services; he said Northern Ireland’s place at the economic council had been “sacrificed”. Alliance MP Kate Nicholl described the region’s lack of representation at the meeting as “disappointing” and “completely baffling”. TUV leader Jim Allister called the DUP’s response a “pathetic farce”, saying the party is “interested only in holding on to power, not in principles”. Ulster Unionist leader John Barrows, speaking on Evening Extra, described the situation as a “political half-measure”, in which “there is only choreography, but no consequences”, and suggested it would “probably further mobilise voters in favour of Sinn Féin”. SDLP representative Matthew O’Toole noted that “plunging the region into a new political chaos is not a sensible strategic move for unionism”.

Context of the Garvaghy Road dispute

The conflict is tied to the long-running dispute over the Orange Order march in Portadown: protests involving Sinn Féin prevented the parade from proceeding along Garvaghy Road, a street with a predominantly nationalist population. It was this event that served as the formal pretext for unionist demands to remove O’Neill, although the First Minister’s party denies any breach of the pledge. It remains unclear whether Lockhart will actually leave the party: the BBC quotes Robinson as saying he “hopes” she will stay, whereas the Belfast Telegraph reports an impending departure that would reduce the DUP’s Commons group to four MPs.

A man with white hair and glasses, he is wearing a suitImage source, Press Association
Image caption,

Gavin Robinson said “there needs to be political sanctions for the behaviour of Michelle O’Neill”

A woman with blonde hair smiles at the camera, she has a black coat on
Image caption,

Carla Lockhart has called for the DUP to remove First Minister Michelle O’Neill from office

First Minister Michelle O’Neill speaking to the media during a press conference in the Great Hall at Parliament BuildingsCarla Lockhart stands outside Lurgan police station. She is a middle aged woman with long, blonde hair and she is wearing a colourful, star patterned scarf. She is also wearing a black coat. She is looking at the camera with a neutral expression on her face.A group of police in riot gear are facing a large crowd of people. Mostly are men. Many are wearing orange sashes. Signs say decommission the parades commission.