The first minister will face a no-confidence vote at Stormont on Monday over her handling of the Drumcree parading dispute. The motion against Michelle O'Neill and three other Sinn Féin ministers will be debated after it received the backing of unionist parties last week. However the attempt to oust them will fail as it requires cross-community support from a majority of both unionists and nationalists in the assembly.
It comes amid a major political row over a planned Orange Order march in Portadown, County Armagh. What is the Garvaghy Road dispute all about? 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.
Police are investigating the demonstrations in a "large-scale" criminal inquiry. O'Neill has defended her actions, saying she was "proud" to stand with the residents and adding that "when the law is wrong I will stand firmly against it". Speaking at Stormont on Monday she said the motion was "performative" and "all for the optics".
"It's going to go nowhere, we all know that, I think even the movers of the motion have recognised that themselves, so it begs the question as to why they want to do it." 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 BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme on Monday that it was not Sinn Féin who brought the Drumcree dispute "back to the table". "Those who seek to drag us backwards need to be stood up against." He added that he will go to Stormont 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." The no-confidence motions were tabled by Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) assembly member Timothy Gaston, who has branded O'Neill the "first minister of lawlessness". 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, said: "Let me be absolutely clear, of course this debate today is not going to succeed because 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." 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.
The DUP leader Gavin Robinson called on sanctions to be introduced against anyone who broke the law. Speaking to the media at Stormont, 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".
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