Debate contribution: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
Debate contribution by Mrs Linda Dillon on .
- MLA
- Mrs Linda Dillon
- 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 5786928
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I want to begin by trying to help those on the Benches opposite and the small number of agitators and unelected commentators who, quite frankly, do not appear to represent many people from the unionist and Protestant community to understand why I truly believe that it was the right thing to do to stand with the residents and community of the Garvaghy Road. In 1997, when I was 20 years old, I travelled on a minibus from Newry to the Garvaghy Road to bring children from the Garvaghy Road to Newry — to get them out of the Garvaghy Road — because of what they were living through there. We took them to a community centre in Barcroft, where they had to lie on the floor to sleep. They were so excited to get away from where they were that you would have thought that we were taking them to Disneyland. It was simply to get a break from the fear and intimidation that was being visited upon them as a result of an Orange march being forced through their community. Anyone who is a parent will know that, when you give your children to anybody, you think, "Will they be OK? Will they be all right?". The gratitude and relief of those parents as they gave their children and responsibility for them to us will never leave me. They knew that, for a few days at least, their children would be safe from the fear and anxiety that had come to dominate their daily lives. Unfortunately, those fears were well founded. Families in that community had already experienced profound trauma and loss. Darren Murray, a child of only 12 years old, was knocked down and killed while being chased by a loyalist gang. You want to talk about mobs: it was a mob that chased that child across the road, and he was knocked down and killed. In 1998, there was devastation at the heartbreaking deaths of the three young brothers, Jason, Mark and Richard Quinn, who were burned to death in their own home during the Drumcree stand-off. The impact of those losses continues to be felt, particularly by the families but also by the wider community, to this day. Two weeks ago, I spoke to Darren's mummy and family in Drumcree community centre. I also met the parents of some of the children whom we had taken to Newry for respite almost 30 years ago. Their children are now parents themselves and they have their own children at their side. The level of anxiety in that centre was palpable. There was a very real fear, which was not based in rhetoric or political point-scoring but rooted in lived experience and collective memory. Those families were deeply fearful of a return to the bad old days. They feared a return of the Orange march being forced through their community, confining their people to their homes and disrupting the peace that they have enjoyed in that area for the past 28 years.
Yes. I agree, exactly. The residents' greatest fear was that they would be left alone, because they felt that they had been abandoned before. That was their greatest fear. They were very clear about that. Everyone in that centre was clear: their priority was to protect their community and, in particular, their children from experiencing what previous generations had endured. Yet, today we have motions of no confidence being brought against Ministers for doing exactly what they were elected to do: stand up for people when they needed them to, stand with the community when it sought protection, stand up for peace and stand up for children.
We have Members on the Benches opposite with an absolute brass neck. They are self-appointed investigators, judge and jury. I do not recall those same Benches demanding their former leader to resign as MP when he was charged with child sex offences; in fact, he retained that seat until Parliament was dissolved in May 2024, continuing to receive his salary and his pension rights. Jeffrey Donaldson also continued to hold the title of "Sir" — Sir Jeffrey Donaldson — until he ultimately forfeited that title following his conviction for child sexual offences. Once again, the silence from the Benches opposite was deafening, and people remarked on it day after day as he went through the court. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson. The hypocrisy is hanging clean out of you. People from all backgrounds can see it for what it is. I take the opportunity to thank the people from the Protestant and unionist community who bravely put their heads above the parapet and stood with the residents of the Garvaghy Road. That courage stands in stark contrast to the sectarian attack and threat made against our councillor Paul Duffy in his place of work this morning and the threatening call made to my constituency office over the weekend. To those who ask where the threat around Drumcree comes from I say this: maybe take a look at yourselves. Maybe ask whether the language being used is giving encouragement or even permission to the sinister elements who would happily drag us backwards. Let me be absolutely clear: there is no going backwards. We will move forwards towards a better future for everyone in our community. We will stand with the people of the Garvaghy Road. We will stand with the families who simply want to live in peace. We will stand with the children who deserve to grow up free from fear, intimidation and trauma, and we will stand on the side of right.
931 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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