Votes of no confidence in First Minister Michelle O’Neill and three other Sinn Féin ministers have fallen after failing to secure enough support in Stormont. The Northern Ireland Assembly debated the no-confidence motions over the ministers’ handling of the Drumcree dispute, after they received the backing of unionist parties last week. However, the attempt to oust them failed as it required cross-community support from a majority of both unionists and nationalists in the assembly. O’Neill described the move as “pointless” but Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said her power-sharing partner had “shattered” public confidence and needed to be held accountable.
It comes amid a major political row over a planned Orange Order march in Portadown, County Armagh. O’Neill and other senior Sinn Féin politicians have been heavily criticised by unionists for joining protests which have blocked the parade from passing along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road. What is the Garvaghy Road dispute all about? Four key takeaways from the Drumcree dispute so far First minister rejects call to resign over Drumcree row Police are investigating the demonstrations in a “large-scale” criminal inquiry.
The first minister again defended her involvement in blocking the Garvaghy Road during the debate, describing the planned Orange Order march as “triumphalist and sectarian”. Motions of no-confidence in the assembly are not binding without cross-community support from both unionist and nationalist MLAs, and cannot automatically force a minister from office. Speaking during the assembly debate, Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) member Timothy Gaston, who tabled the no-confidence motions, described O’Neill as the “first minister of lawlessness” who “doesn’t want an Orangeman about the place”. He asked: “If a determination can be set aside simply because republican protesters object to it, what confidence can any loyalist, any Orangeman, any unionist, have in the impartial administration of justice here in Northern Ireland?” He said there needed to be “political consequences” for Sinn Féin and reiterated TUV’s call for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to withdraw their deputy first minister to trigger the removal of O’Neill from the first minister post.
Little-Pengelly said that people across Northern Ireland have been “appalled” by the conduct of Sinn Féin ministers. “I would appeal to those sitting opposite to get a grip and realise that you have done damage,” the DUP minister told the assembly. “Damage to these institutions, damage to the ministerial roles that they should feel privileged to hold. “That confidence from the people of Northern Ireland has been shattered.” O’Neill said it was “no surprise” unionist parties had supported the no-confidence motions because “they have never accepted equality”.
“They have never accepted rights and respect, and again they still haven’t respected the fact that it is now 2026.” The exclusion motions have also been submitted against John O’Dowd, Caoimhe Archibald and Liz Kimmins. O’Dowd, who is also the finance minister, told the assembly he was “proud” to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents. He accused the TUV of wanting to bring Stormont down. Earlier, he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme that he would continue to work with other parties.
“I am seeking engagements around the budget, I want to work with parties to make a better society for everyone.” Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the parading dispute had been used to create “instability” and said “the days of Orange domination are done”. Kimmins, who is the infrastructure minister, added that she had seen both “some of the most regressive elements of loyalism and unionism” over recent weeks and “the very best of our communities” in support of Garvaghy Road residents. The motions gained the required 30 signatures with the backing of assembly members from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme, the TUV leader, Jim Allister, admitted the debate was “not going to succeed succeed because of the absurd system whereby it needs cross-community support”.
“But that accentuates the pressure on the DUP to be seen to do something because as things stand lawbreakers are sitting in our executive.” DUP assembly member Jonathan Buckley, who signed the no-confidence motions, accused Sinn Féin of “abject failure of political leadership”. “The genesis of today’s debate may be about a parade, but it is about much more,” he told the assembly. “It is about the rule of law. It is about those who feel they are above it and not accountable to it”.
Earlier, DUP leader Gavin Robinson called for sanctions to be introduced against anyone who broke the law. Robinson said he plans to speak to the secretary of state on Monday evening to ensure that there is “accountability”. He said the legislation should be “brought forward that will bring sanctions so that anyone who has broken the law is subject to it and punished”. Regarding what actions the DUP could take, Robinson said “nothing is of the table”.
The DUP and Ulster Unionists share power with Sinn Féin in a four-party devolved government alongside the Alliance Party. Jim Allister has been urging the DUP to withdraw Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy first minister to trigger the removal of O’Neill as first minister. Earlier on Good Morning Ulster, Robinson had said that he is “not in the territory” to “destabilise”. However his party colleague, Carla Lockhart, who represents the Upper Bann constituency in Westminster, said it “cannot be business as usual” at Stormont and the DUP has it “within its gift to remove” O’Neill from her position.
Robinson said that when the party comes to a “consensus, that is our position”. He added that Lockhart has “the right to stand up for her constituents”. UUP leader Jon Burrows called Sinn Féin “morally bankrupt” and said the party had “a recurring problem with accountability”. “We have a party that simply will not sign up to the normal rules of democracy,” he told the assembly.
Addressing those on the Sinn Féin benches, Burrows said they should be “ashamed of their conduct”. Earlier, he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show he would not withdraw Health Minister Robbie Butler from the executive, “because to do so would affect the people of Northern Ireland in all the work he is doing”. Burrows said he was instead calling for changes to Stormont’s rules, and said there should be “proper accountability mechanisms” to hold ministers who breach the pledge of office to account. Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson branded the no-confidence motions a “political stunt” designed to collapse Stormont.
Tennyson described the debate as “depressing, dispiriting and almost unbelievable”, warning that power-sharing institutions were “once again being placed in jeopardy”. However, he also said any elected representatives found to have acted unlawfully in recent weeks “should face the consequences of that conduct”. Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Matthew O’Toole, leader of Stormont’s official opposition, welcomed the NI Secretary’s decision to ban the Drumcree parade, a dispute which he said had “opened up deep wounds that didn’t need to be reopened”. O’Toole said he was not “diminishing or trivialising the rule of law” and his party would “cooperate” with investigations.
“Because we do accept the rule of law and the need for the PSNI and the courts to do their job,” he added. “But we were also founded, the SDLP, in the tradition of peaceful protest. “That’s in our DNA and that right is sacrosanct, and sometimes such action is unavoidable.” It’s within DUP’s gift to remove O’Neill as first minister, says Lockhart Garvaghy Road residents fail in bid to challenge Drumcree decision Orange Order add police chief to court challenge of Drumcree parade ban
