DUP blocks Michelle O'Neill from attending economic summit with Prime Minister

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill has been blocked by the DUP from attending an economic summit involving Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The Sinn Féin vice-president and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly were both invited to attend the National Economic Council in Glasgow on Friday alongside other devolved leaders. The council was revived by the prime minister over the summer to encourage greater collaboration between the nations and regions. DUP leader Gavin Robinson confirmed that his party colleague Little-Pengelly will not participate in joint engagements with O'Neill, and that permission will not be granted for the first minister to operate on a solo basis. He was flanked by DUP assembly members as he spoke in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, following a meeting of the party's ruling officer committee earlier on Thursday. The move follows unionist anger over Sinn Féin's involvement in protests which prevented a contentious Orange Order march in Portadown from passing along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road. O'Neill and other senior Sinn Féin figures have been interviewed by police investigating last month's unnotified demonstrations, with unionists accusing the party of acting unlawfully. Robinson said the first minister's "arrogance will have consequences". "Her complaints today that she's frustrated from engaging with the British Prime Minister within the sovereign United Kingdom will so be it because her law breaking must have consequences," he said. He added that while O'Neill and her party colleagues "should be punished, that does not include punishing the rest of Northern Ireland". Speaking on the BBC's The View programme, he said the party had reached a democratic decision on the Drumcree fallout and had "considered all options and we keep all options on the table". O'Neill accused the DUP leader of being "reckless and irresponsible" and described his comments as "arrogant and supremacist". She said the party was "consumed with their own internal leadership troubles and divisions" and that blocking the meeting meant people in Northern Ireland "will not be represented". "This is a reactive stunt, driven by the DUP's own internal pressures and electoral problems," she said in a statement posted online. She said she would be at the Assembly on Monday with her party colleagues to "keep showing up every day for people". Little-Pengelly said concerns arising from O'Neill's conduct, and the "anger and hurt felt by many people across Northern Ireland, cannot simply be ignored or minimised". The decision came after the DUP stopped a separate planned engagement with the President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly. "I have requested a separate meeting with the Prime Minister to ensure Northern Ireland's interests, including the urgent budgetary and funding challenges facing the Executive, continue to be represented directly," she added. The Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant said it was "deeply frustrating" that the Northern Ireland executive would not be represented at the National Economic Council. "I understand feelings are running high but it must be in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland that everyone gets round the table," he said. Other parties also criticised the DUP. TUV leader Jim Allister said "the DUP's sham response today was beyond pathetic", adding that the party was "interested only in clinging to office, not principle". Alliance leader Naomi Long said refusing to attend or preventing others from attending the meeting was reckless and put party interests ahead of Northern Ireland's economic future. UUP leader Jon Burrows called the situation a "political fudge" that was "all choreography and no consequences", saying it would "probably galvanise Sinn Féin further at the ballot box". The SDLP's Matthew O'Toole said "plunging this place into more political chaos is not a sensible strategic move for unionism", arguing it would lead reasonable people to conclude the largest unionist party "simply doesn't want to make the status quo work". The DUP has been under pressure from unionist rivals and some within its own ranks over how to respond to the Drumcree row. Last week, DUP MP Carla Lockhart stepped down from the party's officer board in opposition to Robinson's approach, after he did not withdraw Little-Pengelly to force O'Neill from their joint Stormont office. On Thursday, Lockhart said she will follow her "own course" if the party does not seek to remove O'Neill as first minister, outlining her position in a letter to colleagues which she later posted on Facebook. Other DUP representatives, including assembly member Diane Forsythe, have backed her calls for O'Neill to be "removed from office", with Forsythe saying official engagements through the joint Executive Office should stop as a "bare minimum". A second assembly member, Maurice Bradley, has also called for O'Neill to go, saying such a step "would not, in itself, require the Assembly to collapse", while former MP Lord McCrea and Mid Ulster councillor Clement Cuthbertson have also backed Lockhart. Robinson said last week he was "sorry" to see Lockhart quit the officer board but that she remained "a key part of our team". The dispute stems from events in Portadown last month, where unnotified demonstrations prevented the Orange Order parade from travelling along the Garvaghy Road. Last week, a court heard Police Service of Northern Ireland intelligence information that dissidents may have mounted gun attacks on police had officers cleared a path for the parade. The Sinn Féin deputy leader has defended her involvement in the protests, saying it was the "right thing to do".