O'Neill says DUP ending engagements 'supremacist'

Sinn Féin has said the DUP has blocked Michelle O'Neill's attendance as Stormont First Minister at a UK economic forum in Glasgow tomorrow.

The DUP party officers were meeting this morning to discuss the fallout from the Drumcree standoff.

They are expected to announce what sanctions they have decided on at a news conference this afternoon.

But in a social media post, Michelle O'Neill said the DUP had decided to deny her permission to attend the conference in Glasgow tomorrow with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the leaders of the other devolved administrations.

As a joint office, attendance at events requires the assent of both First and Deputy First Minister.

Ms O'Neill described it as a "reactive stunt" which had more to do with internal DUP pressures.

There have been calls from within the party for "meaningful consequences" for Sinn Féin politicians who attended an unlawful protest against the Drumcree parade along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road.

A judge yesterday upheld a ban by the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that ended the 12-day stand-off.

Ms O'Neill said the DUP’s "reckless and irresponsible" action would deny the people of Northern Ireland representation at the economic event.

"It’s for the people to decide who represents as First Minister. Not the DUP."

She said she has contacted the Northern Secretary Chris Bryant and made her position "absolutely clear".

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

Meanwhile, two Sinn Fein TDs have attended police interviews in Belfast today linked to their participation in the Drumcree standoff.

Pearse Doherty and Matt Carthy said they had attended voluntarily to answer questions about their involvement.

Ms O'Neill, who last week attended a police station for interview, has defended her presence at the protest on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown as the "right thing to do".

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.

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart has been the most vocal voice within the DUP calling on the leadership to withdraw deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly from the Stormont Executive - a move that would automatically force Ms O'Neill from her post 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.

Individual departmental ministers would, however, remain in post for up to six months and the Northern Ireland Assembly could continue to sit.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson has so far resisted pressure to pull Ms Little-Pengelly out, arguing that imploding the Executive would damage unionism.

Ms Lockhart resigned as a party officer last week over the difference of opinion with the leadership.

Others within the party have suggested action short of withdrawing the deputy First Minister, such as ending Ms Little-Pengelly's participation in further joint engagements with Ms O'Neill.

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.

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 standoff at the site of what was a notorious parading flashpoint during the Troubles.

The parade was ultimately unable to take place because of significant numbers of protesters on the Garvaghy Road, leading Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant to overturn the commission's decision and ban the procession. His decision was upheld by a High Court judge yesterday.

Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission.

Police investigating the unnotified Garvaghy Road protest, which was staged on the day the Drumcree parade was meant to proceed on 27 September, have said invitations to attend interviews were sent to individuals "reasonably suspected of committing offences".

Additional reporting PA