Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart has said she will “set out the path ahead early next week” amid speculation she will walk away from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
asserted
she → say → Party
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said he hopes Ms Lockhart will not quit the party over a dispute with the leadership on the future of the Stormont Executive in response to the Drumcree parading controversy.
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Lockhart → say → controversy
Ms Lockhart argues Ms O’Neill can no longer serve as First Minister because of her participation in an allegedly unlawful protest against the Orange Order Drumcree parade in Portadown last month.
uncertain
O’Neill → argue → Portadown
Ms O’Neill and several of her party colleagues are being investigated by police for taking part in the protest on the Garvaghy Road that was staged to prevent the parade proceeding through the predominantly nationalist area.
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parade → investigate → area
The DUP has stopped short of pulling Ms Little-Pengelly out of her role but on Thursday announced she would no longer participate in joint engagements with Ms O’Neill.
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she → stop → O’Neill
Mr Robinson said Ms Little-Pengelly will also not be giving permission for Ms O’Neill to fulfil engagements on her own in the role of First Minister.
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O’Neill → say → Minister
However, Ms Lockhart said on Friday this “falls far short” of what she believes “the vast majority of unionists want”.
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majority → say → unionists
The MP said she was seeking “profound consequences” for Ms O’Neill’s participation in the protest, including her removal from office.
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she → say → office
In a statement on Facebook, she said: “There is much interest in me and my future.
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she → say → me
Ms Lockhart, who quit as a member of the party’s main strategy-making body last week over the issue, encouraged the public to contact their DUP MLAs to tell them “how let down you feel” as she called for a “moment to reignite a fire” within unionism.
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she → quit → unionism
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She added: “Whatever comes next, I will set out the path ahead early next week.
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I → read → path
My principles and my commitment to the people who put me here will guide that path.
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who → put → path
“I will continue to represent Upper Bann and serve my constituents with every bit of the energy, commitment and vigour I always have.
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I → continue → energy
“Rest assured, I am not going away.”
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I → rest → ?
Meanwhile, the practical outworking of the DUP’s move means Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly did not travel to an economic event in Glasgow on Friday.
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O’Neill → mean → Friday
Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly were also due to hold a separate meeting with Mr Burnham in Glasgow to discuss the ongoing impasse over the lack of a Stormont budget for the current financial year.
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O’Neill → hold → year
Speaking at the beginning of the meeting in Scotland, Mr Burnham expressed disappointment that Stormont’s leaders were not in attendance.
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leaders → speak → attendance
“It’s a shame that we do not have colleagues from Northern Ireland, but obviously we’re working with them on the same agenda and that agenda being how do we get growth up to where we all want it to be,” he said.
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he → ’ → agenda
On Friday morning Mr Robinson was asked whether he expected Ms Lockhart to quit the DUP.
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Lockhart → ask → DUP
“Well, I hope that’s not the case,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.
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he → hope → Ulster
“I mean all of us share the same anger toward Michelle O’Neill.
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all → mean → O’Neill
All of us want to see political sanction.”
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All → want → sanction
Mr Robinson said his party was pressing the UK Government to bring forward legislation that would introduce more robust sanctions for Stormont ministers who breach their pledge of office to uphold the rule of law.
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who → say → law
He said he would not criticise Ms Lockhart.
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he → say → Lockhart
“I understand entirely the position that she has, and I don’t want to see her go,” he said.
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he → understand → that
The DUP blocking strategy will prevent a planned meeting between Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly and Irish President Catherine Connolly at her official residence at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin.
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strategy → block → Dublin
Ms O’Neill will also not be able to attend Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in Belfast as First Minister.
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O’Neill → attend → Minister
Noting the absence of Stormont’s leaders from Friday’s economic event in Scotland, Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard accused the DUP of engaging in a “pathetic, petulant and damaging stunt”.
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Hazzard → note → stunt
He told Radio Ulster: “It’s not damaging to Michelle O’Neill or Sinn Féin – it harms our local businesses, it harms our workers looking for better jobs, and it frustrates families crying out for investment in public services.
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it → tell → services
Yet the north’s chair is empty and has been sacrificed to reckless economic vandalism.”
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chair → sacrifice → vandalism
He said the move was “driven entirely” by DUP concerns over the outcome of next year’s Assembly election.
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move → say → election
Withdrawing Ms Little-Pengelly from her post would automatically force Ms O’Neill from office because of the joint nature of the powersharing structures in Northern Ireland.
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Withdrawing → withdraw → Ireland
Such a step would effectively collapse the devolved administration in Belfast as the Executive could no longer meet to make significant decisions.
However, individual departmental ministers would remain in post for up to six months and the Northern Ireland Assembly could continue to sit.
The furore is playing out amid the customary political manoeuvring that takes place at Stormont ahead of an Assembly election.
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that → collapse → election
The next poll is currently due to be held in May.
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poll → hold → May
A decision by the Parades Commission adjudication body to allow the Orange Order to parade down the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years prompted a two-week stand-off at the site of what was a notorious parading flashpoint during the Troubles.
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what → allow → Troubles
The parade was ultimately unable to take place because of significant numbers of protesters on the Garvaghy Road, leading Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant to overturn the commission’s decision and ban the procession.
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parade → take → procession
His decision was upheld by a High Court judge on Wednesday.
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decision → uphold → Wednesday
Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission.
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protests → notify → Commission
Police investigating the unnotified Garvaghy Road protest, which was staged on the day the Drumcree parade was meant to proceed on September 27, have said invitations to attend interviews were sent to individuals “reasonably suspected of committing offences”.
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invitations → investigate → offences
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