A motion of no confidence in Education Minister Paul Givan, spurred by his recent visit to Israel, has failed to pass after it did not garner cross-community support.
The motion received 47 votes in favor (58.8%) following its proposal by People Before Profit and subsequent backing from Sinn Féin, Alliance, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
However, it lacked the necessary support from unionist members, with 33 voting against the motion.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) had previously dismissed the motion against the DUP minister as “performative.”
Parties in support of the motion argued that the minister should not have utilized departmental resources to disseminate images of his visit to a school in Jerusalem.
Teaching unions also voiced criticism, calling for the removal of a press release concerning the issue from the department’s official website.
In response, Givan told assembly members that the motion represented a “toxic mix of antisemitism, anti-unionism and hypocrisy.”
“This is not principled politics – it’s an attempt at ideological purging,” he stated.
“This motion has not just targeted me. It has sent a chilling message to the unionist community that our convictions, our values and our right to engage with the wider world are to be policed and punished.”
The DUP minister further accused People Before Profit assembly member Gerry Carroll of leveling “trumped up charges” against him.
Givan also defended the press release issued by Stormont’s Department of Education.
According to the minister, the release was “a request that was quite properly approved at the highest level in the department before it was issued.”
Speaking in the assembly, Carroll alleged that during Givan’s time in Israel, “he failed to uphold the pledge of office, failed to comply with the ministerial code of conduct and he has made deeply offensive and unfounded accusations of antisemitism because he is in a tailspin.”
Sinn Féin assembly member Declan Kearney claimed Givan was “acting as a prop” for a “propaganda stunt” with his trip to Israel.
He stated that Givan had “not one ounce of humility, compassion or regret for the people of Gaza, or the anger that you have provoked.”
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) deputy leader Robbie Butler remarked that he could “think of few moments that illustrate our dysfunction more clearly than this one.”
Butler referenced the controversy surrounding the attendance of Sinn Féin ministers at the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey during Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings in 2020.
He stated that although “rules were ignored” there was “no motion of exclusion” and “no humility, only deflection.”
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Matthew O’Toole, leader of the opposition in the assembly, asserted that Givan’s trip to Israel had led to a “shameless compromising of his civil servants’ impartiality.”
Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson characterized Givan’s visit to Israel as a “propaganda mission.”
However, DUP leader Gavin Robinson described the no-confidence vote as “performative” and said that “nothing is going to change.”
He stated that he had “full confidence” in Givan and all the party’s ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive.
“I look forward to the end of today and the ability for the Northern Ireland Assembly to get back to focusing on the issues that matter for the people of Northern Ireland,” he added.
During the no confidence motion, a protester was removed from the public gallery for disrupting the debate.
As Givan concluded his remarks, shouts of “shame of you” could be heard emanating from the public gallery.
Politicians from other parties were observed applauding the protester as she was escorted out by police.
Speaking to BBC’s The Nolan Show last week, Givan asserted that the trip “came at no cost to the taxpayer, at all.”
The DUP minister was among a number of unionist politicians who participated in the six-day trip, which was organized by the Israeli government.
Other participants included DUP MP Sammy Wilson, Steve Aiken from the UUP, and TUV councillor Ron McDowell.
During the trip, they received a briefing from Israel’s foreign ministry, visited a Holocaust memorial, met victims of Hamas, and toured Ofek School in Jerusalem.
According to his updated Stormont register of interests, Givan’s trip to Israel cost its government almost £4,000.
His flights, accommodation, food, and transport were valued at a total of £3,810 and were covered by the Israeli embassy in London.
In his register of interests, Givan described the trip as a “fact-finding tour” involving “visiting Israeli Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and others.”
He added that he was “briefed by eyewitnesses to the murderous terrorist attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and the Houthis.”
On 7 October 2023, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were abducted during a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
Subsequently, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of more than 68,500 people, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
In September, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars declared that genocide was taking place in Gaza, but Israel continues to reject that claim.
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