Assembly expresses no confidence in communities minister

The Northern Ireland Assembly has passed a motion expressing no confidence in Stormont's communities minister after a watchdog report found he breached the code of conduct.

The non-binding motion against Gordon Lyons followed the standards commissioner's findings last month over a Facebook post during riots in County Antrim.

A majority of 51 assembly members to 29 backed the motion, which also called for reforms to address a "crisis of accountability" in Stormont's power-sharing executive.

Lyons rejected the commissioner's report as "laced with contradictions" and dismissed the assembly motion as "immaterial".

The watchdog probe related to a social media post Lyons made last June, when immigrant families were forced to flee their homes during racially-motivated riots.

The commissioner found his post about Larne Leisure Centre "may have heightened tensions and contributed to further unrest".

Lyons last month dismissed the report, saying there is "no evidence to back up" the findings that he breached the ministerial code.

Tuesday's motion was tabled by the leader of the opposition at Stormont, Matthew O'Toole of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

"Sadly, not only has the minister not resigned, the minister has not seen fit to apologise or even utter one word of reflection or learning," he said.

"It's that failure to even acknowledge why others might have difficulty with his post that has infuriated so many."

Lyons described the motion as "nothing more than a charade dressed up as a debate on standards in public life".

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) minister said the watchdog report was "straight from the playbook of the woke brigade" and "laced with contradictions".

Lyons condemned the scenes at Larne Leisure Centre and said his intention with his online post last year was to "de-escalate" tensions.

"It was done in an attempt to avert a repeat of what we had seen in Ballymena," he told members of the legislative assembly (MLAs).

Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew, chair of Stormont's communities committee, said the minister had failed to show "compassion and empathy".

"At a time when there was a need for clear political (leadership), the minister failed to show that leadership," he added.

Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson said that instead of supporting families affected by last year's disorder, the minister's response was to "distance himself and his party from the decision to place those people" temporarily in Larne Leisure Centre.

"His response since has been nothing more than arrogance and contempt," he added.

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows said the Facebook post could be considered "clumsy", but he described the motion as "wasteful self-indulgence by the opposition".

"People in the real world will be wondering what on earth we're doing," he said.