Debate contribution: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
Debate contribution by Miss Michelle McIlveen on .
- MLA
- Miss Michelle McIlveen
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- 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 5786804
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I declare an interest as a member of the Association of Loyal Orangewomen. Yes, Mr Carroll, we exist and we are proud women. There are moments when the Assembly must decide whether its principles mean anything at all. This is one such moment. A Minister cannot participate in an unlawful protest that obstructs a lawfully permitted parade, inciting others to do the same, and then expect the Assembly to carry on as though nothing has happened. The Parades Commission made its determination, which was tested in the courts. That determination was that the Portadown Orange district was entitled to proceed in accordance with the conditions imposed on it. The Court of Appeal confirmed that again today. Despite that, the Garvaghy Road was unlawfully blocked, although Mr Sheehan, of course, does not seem to understand what that means. The First Minister was there. She did not call for calm or for the road to be cleared. Instead, she urged those who were there to stay the course. She urged them to break the law. Let me ask the question back to those Ministers: who was leading Sinn Féin? It was Breandán Mac Cionnaith, a convicted IRA bomber who walked from Sinn Féin to join dissident republicans. It was him telling the crowd to sit down, to link arms and to come back if the police moved them on. He was not alone, of course. Convicted terrorists stood on that road, shoulder to shoulder with Sinn Féin Ministers — leading Sinn Féin Ministers, in fact. That is the company that they chose to keep; not the police, the courts or the law that they pledged to uphold. There is a line between peaceful, lawful opposition and taking matters into your own hands. It is the line between lawfulness and lawlessness. The rule of law does not take sides. If the Parades Commission makes a determination that you welcome, you cannot claim that the law has spoken and demand that everyone respect it, only to be out blocking the roads when its decision goes against you. There cannot be one rule for your opponents and another for your friends. You should not expect society to accept that a decision that has been reached through the proper legal process can be overturned simply by gathering enough people on a road. What are we telling the people of Northern Ireland by that action? We are telling them that the law applies until a big enough crowd decides otherwise and that a determination can be ignored if the right politicians turn up to help obstruct it. That is not the rule of law; it is the rule of the mob. Within two weeks, the parade was banned not because the law changed but because the crowd stayed on the road. That is the lesson that Sinn Féin Ministers have taught every crowd in Northern Ireland. The rule of law is there to ensure that no one is above the law. It is the foundation stone of our democracy and exists to protect rights. That is why support for the rule of law is stated explicitly in the ministerial Pledge of Office. It is not for decoration or to be forgotten when it becomes inconvenient; it is a solemn undertaking that appears twice. Ministers pledge:
"to uphold the rule of law"
but also:
"to support the rule of law unequivocally in word and deed".
What confidence can people have in the Executive if Ministers appear to be willing to disregard the legal processes that they are duty-bound to uphold? Of course, Sinn Féin's respect for the rule of law has always been conditional. Its Members sit in Government on a Monday and, at the weekend, stand at memorials to the men who bombed, maimed and shot dead innocent people. This is a First Minister who told us that there was no alternative to the IRA's campaign. The situation at the Garvaghy Road shows us that, when it suits her, there is still no alternative to breaking the law. If you disagree with a determination, challenge it in the courts.
You do not stand on the road to stop it and then hide behind ministerial office when you are asked to account for it. The public are entitled to expect better. They expect Ministers to respect court rulings and the authority of the police, not attempt to wear their lawbreaking and subversion of the rule of law as some badge of honour.
Every Minister is legally required to take the ministerial pledge. Their appointments would be invalid otherwise. They have each fundamentally broken it. They pledge to support the rule of law in word and deed, and, on the Garvaghy Road, their deeds said otherwise. At a time of collective Sinn Féin onslaught, demonisation and hate-filled bile against the unionist community, I say this: now is the time for us all to stand together resolute, united and unwavering. For our part, we will do all in our power to ensure that that is the case, and I call on all unionist leaders to do the same. I support the motion of no confidence in the First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and her Sinn Féin ministerial colleagues.
867 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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