Debate contribution: Ministerial Code of Conduct: Breaches

Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on 18 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Eóin Tennyson

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

18 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Ministerial Code of Conduct: Breaches

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4655781

Read the official Assembly record

Text

It is telling that Minister Lyons and former Ministers McIlveen and Middleton are not in their place to answer for their actions, albeit they have wheeled out their colleagues to lay out a valiant defence of the indefensible. The Good Friday Agreement relies on three strands: strong relationships internally in Northern Ireland; strong east-west relationships between this island and Britain; and strong North/South relationships. This place functions only on the basis of interdependence, respect and cooperation. In boycotting the North/South meetings, the DUP intentionally sought to disregard that agreement, disrespect its colleagues and disrespect the people whom it is here to serve. It claims to have done so in order to exercise leverage over the EU, in which it has failed. It exercised leverage only over the most vulnerable, who languished on ever-increasing waiting lists, were under pressure from huge spikes in the cost of living and struggled to get adequate education provision for their kids. Those were the people who suffered, not Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak or the European Commission. It is telling that none of the Ministers or Members concerned are here to answer, because they know that that was the sole consequence of their actions.

The report of the Standards and Privileges Committee was clear in pointing to the fact that Ministers acted unlawfully and continued to act unlawfully even after the High Court decision had been made, setting a poor example, lowering standards and destroying what was left of public trust and confidence in our institutions.

I find the level of hypocrisy striking. We have Members of the DUP and Sinn Féin standing up and pointing fingers at each other for actions that their own parties engaged in. Mr Kearney talked about the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, but says that we could not possibly look at a review. A review was promised in the original text of the Good Friday Agreement and has never been implemented. This is not about elevating one community over another: it is about equality. It is about ensuring that everyone in Northern Ireland is treated equally by the institutions, irrespective of whether they are nationalist, unionist or represented by the Members on these Benches who do not align with either of those two boxes. It is also about accountability. Had the Assembly wished to debate a statutory motion of censure of any of the Members concerned, that motion would have been blocked by cross-community vote. Accountability in the Assembly will be a pipe dream for as long as the current arrangements are allowed to stand. I implore the two largest parties, who have been the stumbling block to reform —

— to wake up —

— and to deliver for the people whom they represent.

457 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:30 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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