Alliance MLA asked to ‘acknowledge being out of order’ at Assembly

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister has been asked to “acknowledge she was out of order” after “challenging the authority” of the Deputy Speaker at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The incident came during a sitting of the Assembly on Tuesday.

The North Belfast representative was asked to leave the chamber after an exchange with Deputy Speaker Steve Aiken.

However, an Alliance Party spokesperson has contended that the Deputy Speaker “needs to reflect on his conduct”.

It came following a back and forth between Education Minister Paul Givan and Alliance MLA Michelle Guy, which included Mr Givan claiming Ms Guy “had played the victimhood card”.

Ms McAllister then rose to make a point of order, asking “is it appropriate for the Minister to make what amounts to misogynistic comments in this chamber, it is an absolute disgrace that he distracts and attacks”.

Mr Givan responded saying: “It is not remotely the case.”

Later during Mr Givan’s remarks, Ms McAllister rose to make a point of order to the Deputy Speaker, saying she wanted to highlight that she had asked the minister “a rather straightforward question”.

She also claimed that she had been patronised.

The Deputy Speaker asked Ms McAllister to retake her seat, and said she had “the opportunity to apologise for making that statement right now, because I believe that it was directed at me”.

He added: “There was no patronising.

“I was waiting for the Minister to finish, in accordance with what he is supposed to do.

“Would you care to make an apology, Member?”

Ms McAllister responded saying, “no”, and was asked to either apologise or remove herself from the chamber.

Stormont Speaker Edwin Poots later addressed the incident following the lunch break.

He said, according to standing orders, it is clear that the ruling of the chair is final, regardless of a member’s views, and said it is out of order to add commentary and challenge whoever is in the chair.

“There are times when tempers rise and things get out of proportion but we can reflect and move on,” he said.

The Speaker said there is precedent for dealing with such a situation, referring to previous challenges to the Principal Deputy Speaker by UUP MLA Steve Aiken and TUV MLA Timothy Gaston.

“On that occasion I gave them the opportunity to acknowledge that they should not have challenged the authority of the chair, apologise to the House and then the matter was put aside,” he said.

“I’ve therefore invited Ms McAllister back into the chamber in the hope that we could similarly move on quickly, and if Ms McAllister was to acknowledge that she was out of order to challenge the chair I would be content that she could resume business immediately.

“That is in the hands of Ms McAllister.”

An Alliance Party spokesperson said: “Everyone, including the Speaker and Deputies need to treat MLAs with courtesy.

“Sadly, that convention is being eroded.

“Patronising and shouting at any member is not acceptable, particularly from those responsible for chairing and upholding those standards.

“The Deputy Speaker needs to reflect on his conduct.”