Motion or amendment: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
Motion or amendment by Ms Diana Armstrong on .
- MLA
- Ms Diana Armstrong
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 6 October 2026
- Type
- Motion or amendment
- Business
- Motion · Private Members' Motion
- Heading
- Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
- Assembly identifier
- Document 502400
Read the official Assembly record Open Data source
Text
Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
That this Assembly, under section 30(1)(b) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, resolves that the First Minister no longer enjoys the confidence of the Assembly because, by participating in the unlawful protest on the Garvaghy Road on 27 September 2026 which prevented a permitted parade from proceeding, she failed to observe paragraphs (cd) and (ce) of the Pledge of Office, requiring her to uphold the rule of law and support it unequivocally in word and deed; and that she be excluded from holding office as a Minister or junior Minister for a period of 12 months.
112 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Also tabled by
Each MLA who tabled or co-signed this item has their own record:
- Dr Steve Aiken OBE – record
- Mr Andy Allen MBE – record
- Mr Maurice Bradley – record
- Mr Phillip Brett – record
- Mr David Brooks – record
- Ms Cheryl Brownlee – record
- Mr Keith Buchanan – record
- Mr Tom Buchanan – record
- Mr Jonathan Buckley – record
- Ms Joanne Bunting – record
- Mr Jon Burrows – record
- Mrs Pam Cameron – record
- Mr Alan Chambers – record
- Mr Trevor Clarke – record
- Mrs Diane Dodds – record
- Mr Stephen Dunne – record
- Mrs Deborah Erskine – record
- Ms Diane Forsythe – record
- Mr Paul Frew – record
- Mr Timothy Gaston – record
- Mr Paul Givan – record
- Mr Harry Harvey – record
- Mr Brian Kingston – record
- Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly – record
- Mr Gordon Lyons – record
- Miss Michelle McIlveen – record
- Mr Peter Martin – record
- Mrs Julie Middleton – record
- Mr Alan Robinson – record
- Mr John Stewart – record
- Mr Gareth Wilson – record
Divisions on this item
- 12 October 2026: Exclusion of the First Minister from Office under Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 – The Motion Was Negatived
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.51 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.72).
- Subject area: Parades, bonfires and commemorations.
- The overall probability was moderate at most and none of the culture-war criteria was close to being met.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.12 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.04 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.28 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.21 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.46 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.39 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.51 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.72 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.22 |
| Adopts it | 0.06 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.87 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.06 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.05 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:31 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9. The text was identical to an already-assessed record, so the same answers were reused.
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