Police enquiries over Stormont meeting 'deflection', says O'Neill

The first minister has clashed with members of a Stormont committee as questions were raised over a complaint to police of misconduct in public office.

Michelle O'Neill accused Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) assembly member Timothy Gaston of "deflection and distraction" after he raised the matter during the Executive Office committee.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed on Monday it was making "enquiries" following a complaint from the loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.

It relates to a disputed meeting in 2024 between O'Neill and Alliance Party assembly member Paula Bradshaw, who chairs the committee.

Both have said they had no knowledge of the enquiries until this week.

The committee session came after Gaston was suspended from the Stormont chamber on Monday, over being found to have breached assembly rules.

His two-day exclusion followed a complaint by Bradshaw over a tense exchange in which Gaston told her to "breathe".

The row followed Gaston criticising Bradshaw over engaging with O'Neill in a pre-meeting, which is now the subject of a police complaint.

On Wednesday, the TUV member of the legislative assembly (MLA) said there was "no independent record of that meeting taken by this committee".

When asked about her Stormont department's record of the meeting, the first minister told Gaston: "Fancying yourself as a judge here."

"I watched with interest your nonsense around this all week," O'Neill added.

"It's all about deflection and distraction and the fact that you got suspended from the assembly chamber."

Gaston said he acknowledged his comment was "ill-judged" and apologised to Bradshaw.

O'Neill continued: "Everything in relation to that meeting is well-documented on the public record.

"You know that, everybody else knows that - distraction and deflection."

But Gaston said some in The Executive Office were "dragging their heels" by not releasing records requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

Earlier, Bradshaw told the committee the first she heard of the complaint to police was when TUV leader Jim Allister "advised the media" in a press conference on Monday.

"I was not aware at all of any of this. I have not been approached by the PSNI," she said.

The Alliance MLA said she has written to PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher to ask "for an outline of what's happening".

The clerk of the committee told MLAs he became aware of the PSNI enquiries in June 2025.

He said he sought legal advice which said the matter should remain "strictly confidential" and he was told "not to inform any member of the committee".

There were also tense exchanges during the committee between the first minister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA Phillip Brett.

He questioned the impact of the executive's climate change policies on the long-delayed A5 road upgrade.

O'Neill accused him of being a "climate denier", which Brett strongly rejected - asking the first minister to provide "evidence of that".

"I know the facts - you don't know the facts," he said to O'Neill.

The first minister responded: "I think it's no secret that the DUP are climate deniers."

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP later said she was "not a climate denier.

"But what I do believe is that Northern Ireland should not be going deeper and faster than any other place on this planet," she added.