Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Minister Michelle O'Neill during protest on Garvaghy Road against planned march by Portadown District Loyal Orange Lodge Alamy
Stormont
DUP block engagements with Michelle O’Neill and warn of ‘consequences’ for Garvaghy Road ‘arrogance'
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will no longer appear with Michelle O’Neill at official engagements or permit her to attend them alone.
DUP LEADER GAVIN Robinson has announced the party’s deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly is to cease participating in joint engagements with Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill.
Robinson said Little-Pengelly will also not be giving permission for O’Neill to fulfil engagements on her own in the role of First Minister.
His announcement came after DUP party officers convened to discuss how they should respond to O’Neill and several of her party colleagues being investigated by police for participating in an allegedly unlawful protest on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown last month.
The protest was staged as part of efforts to prevent a contentious Orange Order parade proceeding down the predominantly nationalist road from nearby Drumcree Church.
O’Neill, who last week attended a police station for interview, has defended her presence at the protest as the “right thing to do”.
While stopping short of withdrawing Little-Pengelly from her post – a move that would also force O’Neill from her role and collapse the Stormont Executive –Robinson told reporters he could not give an assurance he would not ultimately take that step.
“Michelle O’Neill’s arrogance will have consequences for her,” he said.
The practical outworking of the move means O’Neill and Little-Pengelly will not attend an economic event in Glasgow on Friday.
Stormont’s leaders were scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth.
O’Neill and Little-Pengelly were also due to hold a separate meeting with Burnham in Glasgow to discuss the ongoing impasse over the lack of Stormont budget for the current financial year.
Posting on social media before Robinson officially announced his party’s decision, O’Neill said blocking participation in the Glasgow conference was a “reactive stunt, driven by the DUP’s own internal pressures and electoral problems”.
She added: “The Economic Forum is taking place tomorrow in Glasgow, and this reckless and irresponsible approach of Emma Little-Pengelly means the people of the north will not be represented.”
The deputy First Minister has decided to block representation from here at major political event, which would include meeting with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, and the British Prime Minister. It is for the people to decide who represents them as First Minister. Not the DUP.
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) October 29, 2026
Robinson said his party’s blockade also means an already-postponed meeting between O’Neill and Little-Pengelly and Irish President Catherine Connolly at her official residence at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin will not now take place.
Withdrawing Little-Pengelly from her post would automatically force O’Neill from office due to the joint nature of the powersharing structures in Northern 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.
Robinson has faced calls from some within his party, most notably MP Carla Lockhart, to pull out the deputy First Minister.
He has argued that such a move would be bad for unionism and also punish people across Northern Ireland – as the administration could no longer take decisions on key issues.
“The First Minister needs to be held accountable for her actions and for her recklessness,” he told reporters at Stormont.
“We believe that while she and her colleagues should be punished, that does not include punishing the rest of Northern Ireland, the foundation of democratic principles that hold society together.
“There has to be accountability, but not at the expense of public sector pay or a budget that is there to provide basic and decent public services for the rest of the people of Northern Ireland.”
The furore is playing out amid the customary political manoeuvring that takes place at Stormont ahead of an Assembly election. The next poll is currently due to be held in May.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin TD’s Pearse Doherty and Matt Carthy today attended police interviews in Belfast following their attendance on the Garvaghy Road.
Police investigating the unnotified Garvaghy Road protest have said invitations to attend interviews were sent to individuals “reasonably suspected of committing offences”.
Asked by reporters in Belfast about the DUP blocking O’Neill from attending the event in Glasgow, Doherty described it as “DUP theatrics” and a “reckless stunt”.
“This is really based on the fact that there is internal issues within the leadership of the DUP and the prospects they have facing the Assembly elections in May,” said Doherty.
“[The DUP] need to question themselves why they’re involved in these types of theatrics and stunts, which is not in the interest of anybody in any place on this island.
“This was an important meeting tomorrow… and of course the First Minister and deputy First Minister should be represented there.
“This is DUP theatrics, this is a political stunt, this is them trying to deal with the issues, the internal issues that they are dealing with in terms of their own leadership.
“The people who are suffering as a result of this are people in communities right across the island of Ireland.”
have your say