DUP leader Gavin Robinson rules out collapsing Stormont over Drumcree parade dispute

Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson has ruled out walking away from Northern Ireland's power-sharing government over the UK government's decision to block an Orange Order parade along Portadown's Garvaghy Road.

Speaking on BBC Northern Ireland's Sunday Politics, Robinson rejected demands from hardline unionists to pull Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly out of the Executive in protest. Secretary of State Chris Bryant stepped in on Friday night to stop the Drumcree march, acting on advice from Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher that proceeding would risk serious violence.

"Does collapsing Stormont bring the Orange men home? What happens the next day?" Robinson said. "If we are seriously and rightly angry about the decision the Secretary of State has taken, who in their right mind would ask him to govern Northern Ireland? I certainly wouldn't."

Why unionists are split over Stormont

Bryant's intervention came after a 12-day standoff on the Garvaghy Road, where crowds gathered to block the procession despite the Parades Commission granting conditional approval for the march to proceed along the route for the first time in nearly three decades.

Robinson accused the Secretary of State and the police chief of "disgraceful appeasement" in the face of disorder, questioning whether authorities had bowed to threats from dissident republicans. But his refusal to take down the devolved government drew immediate condemnation from Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister, who attacked the DUP's stance as a "limp response" and accused the party of "roll-over unionism" by continuing to share power with Sinn Féin.

Within Robinson's own ranks, Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart warned over the weekend that Northern Ireland stood at a crossroads and insisted "there must be profound consequences", arguing that the administration could not simply carry on with business as usual.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows took a different tack, urging calm while demanding legal reforms. Burrows called for ministers who break the law to face exclusion from office and estimated the policing operation had already cost roughly £5 million. He argued that allowing an unlawful blockade to overturn a lawful parade set a dangerous precedent for Northern Ireland.

What happens next with the police investigation

The dispute is now playing out in the courts and through criminal investigations. The High Court in Belfast has been asked to review Bryant's decision, while the Court of Appeal is due to rule on earlier challenges to the Parades Commission determination.

At the same time, police detectives are pursuing a criminal investigation into the Garvaghy Road blockade. Officers have sent letters inviting several prominent political figures to attend voluntary interviews, including First Minister Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Féin MLA John O'Dowd and People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll.

O'Dowd defended his presence on the road, saying he stood with local residents against unwanted sectarian intimidation, while O'Neill and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald welcomed Bryant's intervention as a relief for the local community.

Robinson insisted the DUP would pursue accountability through the legal system and standards watchdogs rather than by creating a constitutional crisis. "A political title is not a shield and no one is above the law," he said, maintaining that ministers suspected of offences must face the standard legal process without Stormont collapsing in the meantime.