Debate contribution: Garvaghy Road: Breach of Ministerial Code
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 28 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Garvaghy Road: Breach of Ministerial Code
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5762159
Read the official Assembly record
Text
There is a tendency to try to misrepresent what I say. I wondered how long it would be before all of this was the Alliance Party's fault. It has not taken long. First and foremost, it is not my role in the House to adjudicate on whether Ministers are in breach of the ministerial code. There are authorities that are responsible for that, and I encourage the Member to approach those authorities to get a read-out on that. Neither is it my job as Justice Minister to adjudicate on whether people are breaking the law. That said, I have been clear that the law must apply equally to everyone and that people have a legal, moral and leadership duty to abide by the rule of law. That does not come as a pick-and-mix. It does not apply only when you like it; it applies when you do not. I said clearly at the weekend that standing on a road may well have been peaceful, but it was not lawful. I said the same thing when it was people standing on roads over the head of the Windsor framework, when people were blocking access to Avoniel Leisure Centre over a bonfire, and when people were behaving in other ways that were provocative or in breach of the law. Therefore, I am not the one who needs to account for my consistency when it comes to the rule of law. There are many others in the House who seem to think that the rule of law applies only to others and not to their supporters. I take the view that it is never acceptable to break the law, and I do not think that anybody would be surprised that, as Justice Minister, that would be my position.
295 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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