Michelle O’Neill is going nowhere, Stormont minister Kimmins says

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Cite

Black, R. (2026, October 26). Michelle O’Neill is going nowhere, Stormont minister Kimmins says. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/first-minister-dup-stormont-b1302356.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-26 · by Rebecca Black

Quick Summary

Kimmins, a Stormont minister, asserts that Michelle O’Neill is not resigning despite calls for her removal following police questioning regarding potential breaches of parade regulations in Portadown. The controversy stems from nationalist protests against an Orange Order parade allowed on the Garvaghy Road after almost three decades. Lockhart, a local MP and DUP member, publicly demanded O’Neill’s resignation amid internal party disputes over power-sharing arrangements, but Kimmins dismisses these calls, emphasizing that O’Neill remains democratically elected as First Minister.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-26, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Summary unavailable.

Written for “Michelle O'Neill's Standing Stance” on 2026-10-26, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 107762: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-26

Story

📰 Michelle O'Neill's Standing Stance
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 31 📰 publisher trust 65
“Article A describes Sinn Féin leaders arriving at a police station for interview, while Article B discusses the context and aftermath of the protest and police questioning, suggesting they cover related but distinct aspects of the same broader event.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“The articles describe different aspects of related events involving parades and protests in Portadown, but do not clearly refer to the exact same specific incident occurring at the same time.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 31 📰 publisher trust 65
“Article A describes Sinn Féin leaders arriving at a police station for an interview, while Article B discusses the context and aftermath of the protest and interviews related to it.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 8% hedged 2 of 26 📰 publisher trust 65
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Drumcree standoff, with Article A focusing on DUP leader Robinson's response and Article B reporting on Michelle O'Neill being questioned by police.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7093 article(s) · 61 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 61 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rebecca Black
57 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 ” “The people decided who the First Minister of the north is and that’s the way that will remain,” she said.
🔮 In a letter to party members, Mr Robinson cautioned that collapsing the Assembly will likely strengthen Sinn Féin.
🔮 However, Mr Robinson suggested a closing of the funding gap next Wednesday could give Stormont ministers a “fighting chance” to balance its budget.
🔮 PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has previously made it clear there would be “consequences” for those found to have broken the law.
🔮 PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has previously made it clear there would be “consequences” for those found to have broken the law.
🔮 “Gardaí continue to seek any information which may assist in identifying and locating it,” they said.
🔮 He said he took his decision “in the best interests of peace”, adding he had been advised by PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher that allowing the procession to go ahead could lead to serious injury, disorder and wider unrest.
🔮 The number of those aged 65 and over is also forecast to rise by 44.7% by 2049.
🔮 A legal challenge will be heard on Monday to Sir Chris’ decision to act following a decision by the Parades Commission to allow the Drumcree parade to go along the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years.
🔮 I wasn’t listening, I couldn’t stop staring at her big eyes, perfect face, her warmth, she just exuded love.
Also by Rebecca Black
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 57 articles by Rebecca Black →

Topics

DUP Orange Order People Before Profit Portadown Sinn Féin

Subjects

Lockhart PERSON · 3× Michelle O’Neill PERSON · 3× DUP ORG · 2× Kimmins PERSON · 2× Orange Order ORG · 2× Portadown GPE · 2× Mary-Lou McDonald PERSON · 1× O’Neill PERSON · 1× People Before Profit ORG · 1× Sinn Féin ORG · 1×

Narrative

Ms O’Neill, along with Sinn Féin president Mary-Lou McDonald, a number of senior party members and People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, was questioned by police probing potential breaches of a Parades Commission determination to allow an Orange Order parade along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-26
🔮 ” “The people decided who the First Minister of the north is and that’s the way that will remain,” she said.
2026-10-26 · Evening Standard
Michelle O’Neill is going nowhere, Stormont minister Kimmins says · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

Ms O’Neill, along with Sinn Féin president Mary-Lou McDonald, a number of senior party members and People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, was questioned by police probing potential breaches of a Parades Commission determination to allow an Orange Order parade along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. asserted
O’Neill → question → Portadown
The move sparked fury among nationalist residents of the road after the route got the green light for the first time in almost 30 years since the flashpoint saw significant disorder in the 1990s. asserted
flashpoint → spark → 1990s
Large-scale protests on the Garvaghy Road effectively prevented the Orange Order parade from being able to complete its traditional route. asserted
protests → prevent → route
On Saturday night, thousands of people lined the streets of Portadown in support of the Orange men. asserted
thousands → line → men
Local MP Ms Lockhart addressed the crowd, telling them “profound consequences must mean profound consequences. asserted
consequences → address → consequences
Michelle O’Neill must go”. asserted
O’Neill → go → ?
“That’s where I stand and this lady is not for turning.” asserted
lady → ’ → turning
This was greeted by boos throughout the crowd, along with chants of “the first minister has to go”. asserted
minister → greet → chants
Ms Lockhart resigned as a DUP party officer last week in a deepening row with the leadership over the future of Stormont. asserted
Lockhart → resign → Stormont
The move came amid a difference of opinion between Ms Lockhart and DUP leader Gavin Robinson on whether the party should withdraw deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly from the powersharing executive. asserted
party → come → executive
Speaking to media in Belfast on Monday, Ms Kimmins responded by saying: “Michelle O’Neill is going nowhere. asserted
O’Neill → speak → Monday
” “The people decided who the First Minister of the north is and that’s the way that will remain,” she said. asserted
she → decide → north
Read More “Carla Lockhart and whoever else can say what they want, but the facts remain democracy is who elects the First Minister. asserted
who → read → Minister
Michelle O’Neill is going absolutely nowhere.” asserted
O’Neill → go → ?
Ms Kimmins also confirmed that she has received a letter from police inviting her for interview in the Drumcree investigation. asserted
she → confirm → investigation
She declined to say when she will attend that interview but added she will co-operate with the PSNI as required. asserted
she → decline → PSNI
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