Bid to oust education minister from office over Israel visit fails

Paul Givan was among a delegation of unionist politicians who accepted an Israeli government invitation of a six-day tour

A no-confidence motion in Education Minister Paul Givan over his recent trip to Israel has fallen after failing to gain cross-community support.

It received 47 votes in favour (58.8%) after being proposed by People Before Profit and backed by Sinn Féin, Alliance and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

But it failed to gain the required support from unionists, with 33 members voting against the motion.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) had dismissed the motion against the DUP minister as "performative".

Parties supporting the motion said the minister should not have used departmental resources to share images of his visit to a school in Jerusalem.

Teaching unions also criticised the move and called for a press release on the issue to be removed from the department's website.

What has Paul Givan said?

Givan told members in the assembly the motion was a "toxic mix of antisemitism, anti-unionism and hypocrisy".

"This is not principled politics - it's an attempt at ideological purging," he said.

"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 accused People Before Profit assembly member Gerry Carroll of "trumped up charges" against him.

Givan also defended the press release issued by Stormont's Department of Education.

The minister said it was "a request that was quite properly approved at the highest level in the department before it was issued".

What did parties say in the assembly?

Speaking in the assembly, Carroll claimed while Givan was 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".

Gerry Carroll (centre) has organised protests against Paul Givan as well as proposing the motion of no confidence

Sinn Féin assembly member Declan Kearney claimed Givan, in his trip to Israel, was "acting as a prop" for a "propaganda stunt".

He said 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 said he could "think of few moments that illustrate our dysfunction more clearly than this one".

Butler pointed to the controversy in 2020 when Sinn Féin ministers attended the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey during Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings.

He said 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, claimed Givan's trip to Israel had led to a "shameless compromising of his civil servants' impartiality".

Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson described Givan's visit to Israel as a "propaganda mission".

What was the full vote?

• 80 voted, with 47 ayes (58.8%)

• 33 nationalists - 33 ayes (100%)

• 33 unionists - no ayes (0%)

• 14 other - 14 ayes (100%)

• Motion falls

'Nothing is going to change'

However DUP leader Gavin Robinson described the no-confidence vote as "performative" and said that "nothing is going to change".

He said 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.

A protester was removed from the public gallery during the no confidence motion for disrupting the debate.

As Givan finished speaking, shouts of "shame of you" could be heard from the public gallery.

Politicians from other parties could be seen applauding the protester as she was escorted out by police.

What did Paul Givan do in Israel?

Speaking to BBC's The Nolan Show last week, Givan said the trip "came at no cost to the taxpayer, at all".

The DUP minister was among a number of unionist politicians who took part in the six-day trip, which was organised by the Israeli government.

Others 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.

Givan's trip to Israel cost its government almost £4,000, according to his updated Stormont register of interests.

His flights, accommodation, food and transport were worth a total of £3,810 and were paid for by the Israeli embassy in London.

In his register of interests, Givan said the trip was a "fact-finding tour" and involved "visiting Israeli Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and others".

He added he was "briefed by eyewitnesses to the murderous terrorist attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and the Houthis".

On 7 October 2023, about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were abducted during a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Israel then launched a military campaign in Gaza during which more than 68,500 people have been killed, 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.