Diane Forsythe, a DUP MLA for South Down, has publicly broken with her party leadership to demand the removal of Michelle O'Neill as First Minister, deepening a unionist rift over the Garvaghy Road protest that has gripped Stormont for weeks.
Speaking out on the evening of 27 October, Ms Forsythe became the second DUP figure to challenge leader Gavin Robinson's position, following Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart, who resigned as a party officer last week over the same dispute, according to RTE.ie.
What the DUP rebels are demanding
Ms Forsythe and Ms Lockhart want the DUP to withdraw Emma Little-Pengelly, the deputy First Minister, from the Stormont Executive. Because the power-sharing structures in the North are joint by design, pulling out one officeholder automatically removes the other. The move would force Ms O'Neill from office and, in practice, collapse the devolved administration in Belfast.
Departmental ministers would remain in place and the Assembly could continue to sit for a further six months, but the Executive itself would cease to function. For a region still recovering from the two-year collapse of devolution that ended in 2024, the stakes could hardly be higher for public services, workers and families who depend on a functioning government.
In a social media post, Ms Forsythe wrote that the overwhelming majority of unionist people believe Ms O'Neill should not be First Minister.
“The anger felt towards her across Northern Ireland is immense and I strongly share in that anger,” she said, adding that in her view Ms O'Neill “should be removed from office”.
Robinson resists, warning of damage to unionism
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has so far held the line. He said his party had reached an “agreed position” not to withdraw Ms Little-Pengelly, arguing that imploding the Executive would damage unionism itself. It is a rare point of agreement between the DUP leadership and the wider civic interest: collapsing Stormont again would punish every community in the North, not just Sinn Féin.
Ms Forsythe went further, saying that if no “meaningful action” was taken, Ms Little-Pengelly should at minimum stop participating in joint engagements with the First Minister.
Her intervention was reported across outlets including The Independent and AOL, both of which noted that the move would automatically force Ms O'Neill from her post under the joint nature of the power-sharing structures.
Why the row started: the Garvaghy Road protest
The dispute traces back to last month, when Ms O'Neill, the Sinn Féin deputy leader, took part in a protest on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The demonstration was organised to stop a contentious Orange Order parade from proceeding down the predominantly nationalist road.
The Parades Commission had allowed the Drumcree parade to proceed down the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years. The decision prompted a two-week stand-off at a site that was a parading flashpoint during the Troubles. The parade ultimately could not proceed because of the numbers of protesters on the road, and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant overturned the commission's decision and banned the procession.
Under parading laws in the North, protests must be notified to and approved by the Parades Commission. Police investigating the Garvaghy Road protest, staged on the day the Drumcree parade was meant to proceed, have said invitations to attend interviews were sent to individuals “reasonably suspected of committing offences”.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has previously warned there would be “consequences” for those found to have broken the law.
O'Neill refuses to resign, Sinn Féin closes ranks
Arriving at Musgrave Street PSNI station for her own interview, Ms O'Neill made clear she would not resign as First Minister even if prosecuted.
“It was always the right thing to do to stand on the Garvaghy Road,” she told reporters.
Several other high-profile Sinn Féin figures, including party leader Mary Lou McDonald, have also attended police interviews about their participation.
On Monday, Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins told reporters that Ms O'Neill was “going nowhere”.
“The people decided who the First Minister of the North is and that's the way that will remain,” Ms Kimmins said. “Carla Lockhart and whoever else can say what they want, but the facts remain democracy is who elects the First Minister. Michelle O'Neill is going absolutely nowhere.”
Ms Kimmins confirmed she has received a letter from police inviting her for interview in the Drumcree investigation. She declined to say when she would attend but said she would co-operate with the PSNI as required.
A question of democracy, not just parading
At the heart of this standoff sits a simple democratic principle. Michelle O'Neill holds the office of First Minister because the electorate placed Sinn Féin as the largest party in the Assembly. The DUP rebels are not proposing to win an election or change public opinion; they are proposing to use the mechanics of power-sharing to eject a First Minister chosen by the voters.
That is the deeper problem with the Forsythe and Lockhart position. The joint office was designed to force the two largest traditions to govern together, not to hand either side a veto they can trigger whenever anger runs high. If the DUP can bring down the Executive to remove a nationalist First Minister, the same weapon will hang over every future administration, and every community that depends on one.
Ms Forsythe, in her post, said statements from Sinn Féin representatives claiming Ms O'Neill was going nowhere were “full of arrogance and defiance, and have infuriated my constituents further”.
For now, Mr Robinson's refusal to pull the plug keeps Stormont standing. Whether that holds in the face of a police investigation that has already reached the First Minister herself, and the leader of her party, is the question that will define the months ahead at Belfast.
FAQ
Why do the DUP rebels want Michelle O'Neill removed?
They object to her participation in the Garvaghy Road protest in Portadown last month, which police are investigating as a possibly unlawful demonstration against an Orange Order parade.
Would withdrawing Emma Little-Pengelly remove Michelle O'Neill?
Yes. The First Minister and deputy First Minister hold a joint office, so removing one automatically removes the other and collapses the Stormont Executive.
Has Michelle O'Neill said she will resign?
No. She has said she would not resign even if prosecuted, and that standing on the Garvaghy Road was “always the right thing to do”.