Debate contribution: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998

Debate contribution by Mr Pat Sheehan on 12 October 2026.

MLA: Mr Pat Sheehan
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 12 October 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Assembly Business
Heading: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5786628

Text

As John O'Dowd, the Minister of Finance, pointed out, the motion talks about people "participating in ... unlawful protest", yet no one has been charged, no one is being prosecuted, and no one has even decided if the law has been broken. Do you know what that illustrates? It illustrates that the mindset of unionism is, "Whatever we say is true, irrespective of the truth of it". This is unionist truth: a law has been broken. Just like they decide where and when they are going to march, irrespective of whether they are wanted in a community or not. That is the mindset behind the Drumcree march. The only reason they want to go down Garvaghy Road is because they know that they are not welcome and not wanted there, but because that is what they always did, they think that they can always do it. They talk this nonsense about a traditional route. Orangemen used to march up the Falls Road. They also used to march to the field in Finaghy. They gave up both those routes voluntarily. Let me tell you, they can give up this one on Garvaghy Road voluntarily, because they are never getting down that road again. It is as simple as that. There is an issue here about leadership within unionism. I spoke about that a couple of weeks ago in this very Chamber, and it is more relevant today than it was two weeks ago, because we have seen the complete lack of leadership within unionism. Leadership has been outsourced to an unelected so-called legal eagle: Jamie Bryson. Jamie Bryson says that either the march gets down the Garvaghy Road or these institutions come down. Carla Lockhart is saying the same thing. Gavin Robinson is saying something slightly different. Who is the leader in unionism? When the plan was hatched to try to force a march down Garvaghy Road, what was said in the room? Who was in the room? Who thought it was a good idea? Who said, "Oh, we think we might have a wee legal loophole here so we can get down the Garvaghy Road"? Who in that room said, "What about the residents? They might have something to say about it. What about the police? Will they be able to force a march down the road if residents come out and protest? What are the implications of this?"? There are over 2,500 Orange marches in the North every year. I will let you into a bit of a secret: in a new Ireland, there will be no ban on those marches. They can go ahead
but I will tell you this: there will still not be a march down Garvaghy Road. It is as simple as that.
Who made the decision on that road? Who said, "Yes, let's go with this strategy to get a march down Garvaghy Road"? Was it Bryson? Was it Carla? Was it Gavin? Was Jon Burrows involved? Who made the decision? Who thought that it was a good idea? Sitting here now, all the unionists are lined up: does any of you now think that trying to get the march down the Garvaghy Road was a good idea? Any one of you, put your hand up. No. Not one of you will put your hand up. You have made a massive strategic blunder, and the reason why you have made that blunder is that you do not have leadership. The double standards of the law and order parties across the way are mind-boggling. There is the party of Peter Robinson, who was part of the invasion of Clontibret. There is the party of Jim Allister, one of the founders of Ulster Resistance. Quite a few of you were involved in Ulster Resistance and the importation from South Africa of arms that were used to kill dozens and dozens of innocent Catholics. That is what your party was involved in.
Gavin Robinson, who was out protesting —
— at an anti-immigration protest said, "No, I wasn't on the road. I was on the central reservation", but, when the footage came out, where was he? He was standing in the middle of the road. He said, "No, I wasn't protesting; I was working with the police". The double standards and the hypocrisy are mind-blowing.
I thank all of you who are sitting across from me. Your constant rallying cry is that you want to make Northern Ireland work for everybody, but everything that you do has completely the opposite effect, so go raibh míle maith agaibh. Sin é.

762 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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