O’Neill says she has not been contacted by police over Garvaghy Road protest and does not expect arrest
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said police have not contacted her about her controversial attendance at an unlawful protest against Sunday’s Drumcree parade.
The Sinn Fein vice-president also said she does not expect to be arrested over the incident.
Ms O’Neill made the comments as she and party president Mary Lou McDonald arrived for a meeting in Dublin with Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris to discuss the Garvaghy Road standoff.
The First Minister and other senior nationalists were among a large crowd that blockaded the Portadown road to prevent a permitted and heavily restricted Orange Order parade travelling the route.
Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission. Police have confirmed the protest wasn’t notified to the commission and therefore unlawful.
Arriving for the Dublin meeting, Ms O’Neill was asked if she had been contacted by the PSNI, and whether she expects to be arrested following her attendance.
She replied: “No, I have not. And no.”
Earlier, the First Minister again failed to appear before MLAs at Stormont to answer an urgent question on her participation in the protest but did give a commitment to do so next week.
Speaker Edwin Poots, who accused Ms O’Neill of displaying “gross contempt” for the assembly due to her no-show on Monday, had relisted the oral question for this afternoon.
When the time came for the question to be called, Ms O’Neill was not in place at the dispatch box.
Mr Poots said Ms O’Neill had initially indicated it was her intention to attend to answer the question, but she later informed him she was unable to because of “another urgent engagement”.
The First Minister had instead travelled to Dublin for her meeting with the Irish premier and deputy premier.
“I have been given an assurance that the First Minister will attend the chamber at our next sitting on Monday,” said Mr Poots.
Tabled by DUP MLA Phillip Brett, the urgent oral question to the Executive Office asked Ms O’Neill to explain how her attendance at the unlawful protest on the Garvaghy Road was in keeping with her pledge of office.
Yesterday she had defended her attendance in a personal statement to the assembly from the back benches, but she later declined to appear before the dispatch box to answer Mr Brett’s question.
After her second no-show on Tuesday, the speaker told MLAs he would have used his powers to compel Ms O’Neill to attend if she had not given a commitment to come to the chamber next week.
DUP deputy First Minister Ms Little-Pengelly said Ms O’Neill should have prioritised her scheduled appearance at the Assembly.
“There is one party that has been deeply reckless, and one first minister that has been deeply reckless,” she said. “She needs to come to this house and answer questions and subject herself to that scrutiny.”
Sinn Fein’s Deirdre Hargey insisted that her party colleague was not afraid to answer questions.
“She’s not afraid of any of you, so let me make that fact clear,” she said, claiming it would “become apparent” Ms O’Neill is “out trying to de-escalate” the situation.