O’Neill is not ‘First Minister for all’ – Gavin Robinson

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said he does not believe that Michelle O’Neill is a “First Minister for all”.

Mr Robinson called on the Sinn Féin vice president to “show leadership” after a row over a jobs fair in Derry.

The Army had been due to attend the event but withdrew after some Sinn Féin, SDLP, and independent councillors objected.

Mr Robinson said it was “a failure of leadership” in nationalism and republicanism.

He told the BBC Nolan Show: “The First Minister for all needs to speak up and say her people got it wrong, those councillors got it wrong.

“They have created a hostile environment which is unwelcome in Northern Ireland.

“She attends events with the commander in chief of the British armed forces and she gets plaudits for doing it.

“But it is meaningless if her councillors are acting in this way in Derry.”

Mr Robinson added: “Any time you hear a Sinn Féin representative say ‘we believe in a shared future, we believe in a shared society, our First Minister is a First Minister for all’.

I don’t paint her as a First Minister for all, I don’t believe she is, I never have. My view on that won't change

“I think the lion’s share of people in Northern Ireland will sit back and say ‘no, you are not’.

The DUP leader said Ms O’Neill had to “understand it is more than her own back yard which lives in Northern Ireland”.

He added: “I don’t paint her as a First Minister for all, I don’t believe she is, I never have. My view on that won’t change.

“(Deputy First Minister) Emma Little-Pengelly is in that office very much for the reasons of balance and the system we have.

“I don’t buy in to the mantra that the First Minister is a First Minister for all, I believe she should be.

“I believe Emma Little-Pengelly displays leadership far beyond that of the co-habitant of Stormont Castle.”

He said: “They need to demonstrate there are people in this community who don’t share their outlook and they have every right to share a different outlook, to believe in what they believe and pursue opportunities with the British Army.”

Sinn Fein has been approached for comment.

Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly are due to appear together before their Stormont scrutiny committee later this week.

MLAs returned to Parliament Buildings this week as the Assembly returned following its summer recess.