16/10/2026
Suspension for telling an Alliance MLA to breathe — but no sanction for Caral Ni Chuilin after she breached the MLA Code of Conduct and failed to uphold openness and leadership
Statement by TUV MLA Timothy Gaston:
“I welcome today’s report from the Assembly Commissioner for Standards, which makes clear that Caral Ni Chuilin breached Rule 5 of the MLA Code of Conduct and failed to uphold the principles of Openness and Leadership.
“This follows a complaint I lodged after she failed to declare an interest while the Belfast City Hall incident involving damage to Lord Wallace Browne’s portrait was discussed by the Committee for the Executive Office. She then took part in a discussion about writing to the Executive Office about the matter, despite the fact that her son was under police investigation in connection with the damage.
“In my complaint, I cited a statement issued by KRW Law on 26th November 2025 which confirmed that the Sinn Fein employee under investigation was Ms Ni Chuilin’s son. The Commissioner found that the family connection was a relevant interest that should have been declared and that the failure to do so was “not inadvertent”.
“While I welcome the manner in which the Commissioner for Standards has gone about his job, I am sure I will not be the only one surprised by the attitude of the Standards Committee to this matter.
“This is a body which suspended me from the Assembly for two days for the crime of telling Paula Bradshaw to breathe, even though I accepted that the words were ill-chosen.
“In this case, a Sinn Fein MLA who also holds the post of Principal Deputy Speaker in the Assembly - and should therefore surely be expected to uphold the rules she helps police in the Chamber on a weekly basis - has got off merely with writing a letter of apology. Significantly, this is despite the fact that throughout the process she accepted no wrongdoing until there was a finding against her.
“The findings of a lack of openness and transparency and failure to declare a relevant interest against a senior office-holder in the Assembly, and the lack of consequence for those actions, will further damage public confidence in a Stormont system held in contempt by the public — and rightly so.”
