Public spat with O’Neill has not damaged powersharing Executive, Robinson says

DUP leader Gavin Robinson has insisted that his public row with Michelle O’Neill has not damaged relations within the Executive or its ability to deliver legislation.

Mr Robinson said he would continue to speak his mind and to challenge “discrimination” from Sinn Fein where he saw it.

Recently Mr Robinson and Ms O’Neill, the Sinn Fein vice president and First Minister, disagreed publicly after the Army withdrew from a jobs fair in Londonderry following objections from some nationalist and independent councillors.

Mr Robinson called on Ms O’Neill to show leadership over the issue and said he did not believe she was a “First Minister for all”, while the Sinn Fein vice-president responded in a BBC interview that he should “butt out”.

The following day Ms O’Neill and DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly appeared together before their Stormont scrutiny committee where there were sharp exchanges with a number of MLAs.

In an interview with the PA news agency ahead of the DUP conference on Saturday, Mr Robinson expressed surprise that most of the commentary had been around his remarks about the First Minister, rather than the issue of the Army having to withdraw from the recruitment event.

He said:  “I think there is commentary out there at the moment which is like a broken record, which seems to think if there is discord in politics that means the end is nigh, and that’s not so.

“Politics is about sharing ideals, sharing ideas, debating, discussing and disagreeing.

“You almost get a sense that there are those out there that create this atmosphere as if the reaction to us speaking our mind is some way difficult or concerning; it is not, it is politics.”

The DUP leader added: “We won’t shy away from raising issues or for standing up for what we believe, you almost get a sense there are people out there who would like to shut down that avenue for debate.

“The alternative is to ignore it. The alternative is to pretend it doesn’t happen. That is not politics and that is not the sort of party I will lead. We will call it out.

“A mature system, a system with mature people in it should be able to highlight and discuss and disagree, and disagree well and sometimes disagree robustly.

“Why is it we are now talking about the consequences of us calling something out that was wrong, not that which was wrong, not the discrimination, not the mentality that leads to exclusion.

“That should be the nature of the discussion.”

Mr Robinson said he was “more than happy” to stand over the remarks he made about Ms O’Neill.

He said: “I would like to see an Executive that has people within it that don’t discriminate. I would like to see an Executive with people within it who lead parties that are happy to live out the honeyed words they speak, and if they don’t, they should be challenged.

“But that is not a challenge to the system, nor is it a challenge to the willingness to share in this society, it is a challenge to the honesty and veracity of those who say otherwise.”

He added: “I think it is right to challenge when you see something which is wrong.

“The better reaction to a challenge like that is to say we can see the point, we have unionist neighbours in Londonderry who don’t think like us and they have the right to pursue opportunities in the Army, or whatever else it may be.

“There is no point coming to Stormont, standing in the Assembly and talking about equality and inclusion and tolerance and a shared society if it is not being lived out or experienced by minority communities in other parts of Northern Ireland.

“By highlighting it as I did, I think it’s strange that the commentary so quickly moved on to a challenge about the need or the ability for us so speak out, speak our mind and stand up for our people rather than challenging the heart of the issue, which is discrimination at play.”

Mr Robinson said: “I challenged this romantic notion that she (Ms O’Neill) is in some way a First Minister for all, patently she is not.

“In my view she never has been.

“But in highlighting her inability to tackle discrimination in her own back yard or stand up for the very principles and values she talks about warmly but her colleagues cannot demonstrate, that’s a fair challenge.”

Mr Robinson said Stormont, like all other governments, was not delivering its agenda as quickly as he would like.

He said: “There is no government in the world that is able to respond quickly to the needs of their people and there are frustrations with politics.

“Sometimes we have the capacity to run away with ourselves and believe that our government, this system of government, challenging though it can be, is worse than if it weren’t there.

“I can very proudly demonstrate how our party delivers on our manifesto commitments.

“We can see that with (Education Minister) Paul Givan and childcare, we can see that with (Communities Minister) Gordon Lyons and winter fuel payments and you can see that with Executive colleagues making sure we have a programme for government which isn’t a myriad of endless commitments which will never be delivered, but achievable aims for our society that will tackle issues.”