Second DUP Figure Calls for O’Neill’s Removal as First Minister
The DUP assembly member Diane Forsythe has joined the MP Carla Lockhart in calling for Michelle O’Neill to be removed as Stormont’s first minister over her part in protests that blocked an Orange Order parade at Drumcree. “It is my view that Michelle O’Neill should be removed from office,” she wrote.
The row is now inside the DUP as much as between parties. Ms Lockhart stepped down from the party’s officer board last week after its leader, Gavin Robinson, declined to withdraw the deputy first minister — the only route by which unionists could force Ms O’Neill from the joint office, since the posts stand or fall together. Ms Forsythe, also an officer, says “profound consequences” were promised and “must be honoured”. Ms O’Neill and other senior Sinn Féin figures have been interviewed by police over the Garvaghy Road protests; she says she will “continue to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents”.