DUP leader urges party members to think 'long-term'

Gavin Robinson is urging patience because he believes stopping Stormont from functioning could damage unionism more than Sinn Féin. He says unionists should think beyond their anger over the Drumcree dispute and focus on the next election, when voters can make their views clear.

His warning is based on recent history. Before Sinn Féin collapsed Stormont in 2017, the combined DUP, UUP and TUV vote was 45.2%. It fell to 43.5% at the following election, and unionism lost its overall Assembly majority. By 2022, the share had dropped to 40.1%, while Sinn Féin became the largest party.

Robinson therefore opposes stopping the Executive without a budget or plan. He says that would weaken Northern Ireland and unionism over time. Instead, he wants unionist parties to unite, win more seats, and challenge Sinn Féin through elections and legal or political action.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the elected body that makes laws and scrutinises government in Northern Ireland. Its Executive is the power-sharing government formed from parties entitled to ministerial roles. The Assembly debates issues, while the Executive manages public services and policy.

To collapse or stop the Executive functioning means withdrawing the political support needed for ministers to govern together. In practice, decisions, budgets and departmental work can become blocked or severely limited. Robinson specifically warned that Stormont could be left without a functioning Executive, budget or plan.

The article presents this as a strategic choice, not merely a procedural one. Robinson says remaining in a mandatory Executive with Sinn Féin is difficult, but Sinn Féin has a public mandate. He believes stopping government now would weaken unionism in the longer term, while elections offer a route to change its strength.

If the DUP withdrew from the Stormont Executive, the immediate result could be a serious breakdown in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government. Robinson says stopping the Executive without a budget or plan would weaken Northern Ireland and unionism, even if the move expressed anger at Sinn Féin.

The mechanism is electoral. Robinson points to the 2017 experience, when Sinn Féin collapsed Stormont and the combined DUP, UUP and TUV vote later fell from 45.2% to 43.5%. Unionism lost its overall Assembly majority. By 2022, that combined share was 40.1%, and Sinn Féin became the largest party.

The article does not predict a certain election result, but Robinson clearly fears a repeat. Sinn Féin could gain politically from another collapse, while unionist parties could appear divided or responsible for halted government. He wants them to remain focused on winning more seats at next year’s election.

The article describes a sustained decline in the combined vote share of the DUP, UUP and TUV. Before Sinn Féin collapsed Stormont in 2017, those three unionist parties together held 45.2% of the vote.

At the election following that collapse, their combined share fell to 43.5%. Robinson links this period with a major political change: unionism lost its overall majority in the Assembly for the first time. The figures are used as a warning against repeating the same strategy.

By the 2022 election, the combined vote had dropped further, to 40.1%. Sinn Féin then emerged as the largest party. Robinson uses this trend to argue that disrupting Stormont can carry an electoral cost for unionism. He therefore wants unionists to think long-term, put aside personal attacks, and cooperate before the next Assembly election.

The Drumcree dispute concerns an Orange Order parade and whether it should be allowed along the Garvaghy Road. The parade has been prevented from using that route for almost 30 years. The issue has become a major flashpoint between unionist and nationalist communities.

The article says Sinn Féin and First Minister Michelle O’Neill backed an allegedly illegal protest on the Garvaghy Road. That protest prevented the parade from taking place along the route. O’Neill, Sinn Féin president Mary-Lou McDonald and others later attended voluntary police interviews over alleged breaches of the Parades Commission ruling.

A separate legal challenge was brought against Secretary of State Chris Bryant’s decision to ban the parade from the road. Judgment was expected the following week. Robinson says the police investigation will be key and insists that nobody should be immune from prosecution because of political position.

Northern Ireland’s mandatory coalition requires major unionist and nationalist parties to share Executive power. The DUP is a leading unionist party, while Sinn Féin is the largest nationalist party identified in the article. Their participation allows ministers from both traditions to govern together.

Michelle O’Neill is the First Minister, and Emma Little-Pengelly is the Deputy First Minister. Although their titles differ, the offices operate jointly within the power-sharing system. The DUP’s role includes deciding whether to continue supporting that arrangement, while Sinn Féin holds its own mandate and ministerial influence.

The relationship is under severe strain over the Drumcree protest and police investigation. Carla Lockhart called for the DUP to withdraw Little-Pengelly, then resigned as a party officer. Robinson rejected stopping the Executive without a budget or plan, arguing that Sinn Féin has a mandate and that withdrawal could weaken unionism.

Northern Ireland requires power-sharing because its politics is divided between unionists, who generally support the union with the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who generally favour a different constitutional future. A government controlled by only one tradition could lack broad legitimacy and deepen conflict. Power-sharing gives both major communities a role.

The article describes this arrangement as a mandatory Executive. The DUP and Sinn Féin must therefore work in government together, even when their relationship is highly difficult. Robinson says being in a mandatory Executive with Sinn Féin is hard, but Sinn Féin has a mandate from voters that cannot simply be wished away.

This structure also explains the stakes of withdrawal. If one major party stops participating, the Executive may cease functioning. Robinson argues that such a move would weaken Northern Ireland and unionism. He instead wants unionists to challenge Sinn Féin through cooperation, elections and demands for accountability.