Debate contribution: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on .
- MLA
- Mr Phillip Brett
- 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 5786939
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I just want to respond to the disgraceful remarks by the Member for Mid Ulster, who is trying to politicise the victims of the disgraceful Jeffrey Donaldson and bring that issue into the debate. Unlike her party, we never protected a paedophile-protecting leader, as you tried to do with Gerry Adams, so sit there with the disgraced face that you should have. It has been telling that, in all the remarks made by Sinn Féin Members today, they did not address the motion, and that is because they cannot explain to the people of Northern Ireland why they believe that they are above the rule of law. The Sinn Féin Chief Whip even took the extreme step of saying that anyone co-opted to this place should not even have a say. She managed to throw Mr Boggs and Ms Finnegan, who sit on her Benches, under the bus. Apparently, they are not allowed to have a say in the House. Sinn Féin Members are so desperate to deflect from the fact that they cannot explain why they are above the law. At a time when a roads Minister cannot build a road, all she can do is block a road. At a time when an Economy —
At a time when an Economy Minister has become more known for losing jobs than gaining jobs, all she can do is block a road. We have a Finance Minister who told us that the Budget that he had secured was the best deal since sliced bread until his Ministers came out and opposed it. He cannot get a Budget agreed, but he can block a road. We have the self-proclaimed First Minister for all who makes up pointless and meaningless slogans depending on the time of day. She spoke about equality and mutual respect. What did the First Minister do when Breandán called members of the Orange Order "fuckers"? She brought him on to the stage and cheered him. She had no kickback or remarks for him. What did the president of Sinn Féin do when we heard the slogan, "These bastards are not getting down here"? She said that too. When it comes to equality, it is one rule for Sinn Féin and another rule for its unionist neighbours. Sinn Féin Members have asked us who broke the law. Let us look at the remarks of Mr Gerry Kelly, who, in 2013, stated:
"Any unnotified ... march is illegal and therefore anyone participating in them is breaking the law. The PSNI need to act on this fact and stop facilitating law-breaking."
The Member has asked who is judge, jury and executioner. It is Members on your Benches who have made it clear that you are criminals and you have broken the law. We have had more attempts at distraction. I do not know whether the First Minister is aware, but we have had a joint head of government from Sinn Féin since 2007, so what is the made-up nonsense of "Not going back"? Not going back to what? Not going back to when Sinn Féin defies the law because it does not agree with the courts? Not going back to when Sinn Féin not agreeing with other politicians leads to a Member of Parliament requiring police protection? As a result of what you said, First Minister, Carla Lockhart's child has to look on as her mother is put under police protection. Does that make you the First Minister for all? I hope that you are proud of that. You called people down to the courts. You and your colleagues stood and watched, arms folded and laughing, as Mrs Diane Dodds and others were chased and spat at. So much for standing up for women.
They do not like the truth.
We have had comments from the Finance Minister: "Be grateful, members of the Orange institution: we facilitate you". How lucky are they that their neighbours and friends say, "We will facilitate you". Members of the Orange institution are taxpayers of this country. There are 30,000 members in Northern Ireland, yet we have a First Minister who claims to represent everyone calling them all "sectarian". Those 30,000 people are "sectarian", but, of course, the First Minister, who celebrates the murder of people on the basis of their religion, is not sectarian at all. Let us look at the cocktail of criminals with whom they stood. Who leads Sinn Féin now? Is it Breandán Mac Cionnaith, who left your party over its support for the rule of law? Is it Colin Duffy, who was charged with the murder of members of the army? Is it Martin Lynch? You may know him, First Minister. Is it Spike Murray — you may know him — or, indeed, Gerard Rice? Unfortunately, we have unelected extremism running Sinn Féin, not the Members on those Benches. I say this to the Alliance Party: it is frankly remarkable that the only political party that you could namecheck in your sole contribution was the Democratic Unionist Party. I tell the thousands of unionists across Northern Ireland who have sillily put their support behind the Alliance Party in the past to look at those comments. The Alliance Party, just like Sinn Féin, does not want a unionist about the place. The SDLP has said, "Sometimes, actions are unavoidable". The party of Hume and Mallon now has a list of laws that can be broken. Across Northern Ireland, people will be appalled. Mr Carroll deserves little rebuttal. He is searching for Sinn Féin transfers to save a seat that he will lose to those Benches in a few months' time. He said the quiet part out loud about the people of West Belfast: he thinks that his neighbours on the Shankill Road are nothing more than Orange scum. I will finish my remarks on Ms Dillon. I will take no lectures —.
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. They do not like the truth. To the Member —
The fact is that the Member for Mid Ulster does not want to be called out on her last remark. That is a Member who is on record as saying that the Member for Upper Bann Mrs Diane Dodds is not a victim, when her colleagues tried to break into the Royal Victoria Hospital to kill Mrs Dodds and her dying child. The people of Northern Ireland are rightly angry at every one of you. In the words of Ms Sheerin, you are a disgrace. Ultimately, the people of Northern Ireland will have the opportunity to hold you to account at the ballot box. This party will not run away from you. We will not back down to you, as the Secretary of State and the Chief Constable did. We will not flee the pitch as some unionists want us to do. We will come here every day, deliver for the people of Northern Ireland and call out your blatant sectarianism.
1,156 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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