Debate contribution: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
Debate contribution by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on .
- MLA
- Dr Steve Aiken OBE
- Party at the time
- Ulster 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 5786860
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Many times, the Northern Ireland Executive have been as a democratic outlier in our nation, on this island and, indeed, across Europe. The fact that no confidence motions have been tabled under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on the First Minister and the Economy, Finance and Infrastructure Ministers for failing to adhere to the ministerial code would be seen to be an extraordinary event anywhere, never mind here, especially as we have a ministerial Pledge of Office in which Ministers pledge:
"to discharge in good faith all the duties of office;"
— to uphold the —
"commitment to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means; to uphold the rule of law based as it is on the fundamental principles of fairness, impartiality and democratic accountability, including support for policing and the courts".
— and, crucially —
"to support the rule of law unequivocally in word and deed and to support all efforts to uphold it".
As a Member of the Legislative Assembly, with our own code of conduct, we also agree to "uphold the law", and are asked to:
"promote equality of opportunity and not discriminate against any person, treating people with respect regardless of ... religion ... [or] ... political opinion".
We are also asked to promote "good relations", that is, all good relations, no matter from which community they come:
" Members should act in a way that is conducive to promoting good relations by tackling prejudice, promoting understanding"
— I have not seen much of that —
"and respect and encouraging participation between people on the grounds of different religion, political opinion"
— amongst other things. Also as MLAs, our undertaking under section 40 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, is:
"to support the rule of law unequivocally in word and deed and to support all efforts to uphold it".
As Ministers and MLAs, the First Minister and the Finance, Economy and Infrastructure Ministers, have, by their actions, failed in their duties to the Pledge of Office and the ministerial and MLA codes of conduct. Bizarrely, some said that Sinn Féin's actions on the Garvaghy Road were, perhaps, in ignorance of the law. In some way, they did not understand the court's determination or, indeed, direction from the legal authorities. By observing and listening to the actions of the First Minister and others, which were recorded and broadcast, it can be said categorically that there was no ignorance of the law, the legal requirements or the directions of a legal authority. They were clearly aware of what they were doing, and revelled in their approach. Rather than supporting the principle of "promoting understanding and respect", they went out of their way to raise tension and denigrate other parts of the community. They sought by their actions to ratchet up the failure to support the legitimate law of our nation. All that contradicts the codes and principles of public life, which, for an MLA and a Minister, is impermissible — unless, of course, you are in Sinn Féin. The application of the rule of law is supposed to be consistent through the codes and principles of our elected political life here. Whether or not we like the law that is in the statute books, it is our duty to uphold those codes and principles. There is no saying, "Take it or leave it" or, "I'll only support the laws that my party tells me to" or, "My party's interpretation doesn't allow me to comply with the rule of law". Our codes and principles are, supposedly, sacrosanct. Deciding that, as a political party, we can collectively choose to ignore whichever law we do not like is not upholding civil rights; it is anarchy. We have heard arguments that, according to the European Court of Human Rights, the First Minister had rights that entitled her and others to ignore ministerial and MLAs' obligations. It is believed that that refers to article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Luckily, as United Kingdom residents, they have the right to peaceful assembly, but that is a qualified right. Rightly, the state can impose restrictions where necessary for public safety, prevention of disorder or protection of the rights of others, which is clearly what the courts did, taking action that the First Minister and other Ministers could and should reasonably have been expected to know about.
No. Indeed, in invoking the European Court of Human Rights while ignoring the protection of other rights of other members of the community, it seems, on any reasonable balance, that they believe that the civil rights of those whom they purport to represent are somehow of higher value than those of others — the others who sought legal redress rather than taking any other action to uphold their community rights. Despite the interpretation of Sinn Féin Ministers, that is, objectively, in direct contravention of article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is a qualified right, and of the law in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin has form. There was the First Minister's actions at the Bobby Storey funeral. Sinn Féin party directives overrode COVID regulations, with funerals of IRA terrorists taking priority over public health. It is clear that, for this so-called First Minister and the rest of the Sinn Féin Ministers, the requirements of the law and the adherence to principles and obligations that is a requirement of office and a prerequisite for taking their seats in the Assembly are secondary to the requirements of their party. Democracy is fragile enough without —.
A High Court judge will make up his own mind. Democracy is fragile enough without failure to adhere to democratic norms. In that, the Sinn Féin Ministers have clearly put party above democracy. That is, by any measure, a move towards totalitarianism. To paraphrase George Orwell, all are equal but some — anyone whom Sinn Féin agrees with or favours — are more equal than others.
986 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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