DUP leader backs MP’s stance on Drumcree row, rejects deputy minister’s removal

Carla Lockhart, the DUP MP for the Drumcree constituency, called for deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly’s resignation to pressure First Minister Michelle O’Neill after O’Neill joined demonstrations on Garvaghy Road. The protests followed the Parades Commission’s decision to allow a controversial Orange Order march for the first time in three decades, a decision later overturned by Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant at the request of PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he stands with Lockhart on demanding consequences for law-breakers but will not pursue the deputy First Minister’s removal, emphasizing that ordinary law-abiding citizens must not be punished. He also criticised TUV leader Jim Allister for targeting only Little-Pengelly while other ministers from Sinn Féin attended the protests. Robinson warned that unionism must avoid blind allegiance and reaffirmed the party’s commitment to upholding Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.