Ex-Alliance MLA 'brought Stormont into disrepute'

Patrick Brown quit his job as an Alliance assembly member in April

A former Alliance Party assembly member breached Stormont's code of conduct in his actions towards an integrated school, a committee has found.

Patrick Brown quit in April while a complaint from Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle, County Down, was still being investigated by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

A report by the standards and privileges committee has found his conduct brought the assembly into disrepute.

Mr Brown described the complaint as "vexatious" and said his reasons for quitting politics were "to take up a new job" and for "personal health reasons relating to the pressures of the role".

The complaint was made by the school's principal and the chair of its board of governors, and was investigated by the assembly standards commissioner, Melissa McCullough.

Ms McCullough's report was then considered by the standards and privileges committee, made up of members of the legislative assembly (MLAs).

It upheld four of the eight allegations against Mr Brown, who was an MLA for the South Down constituency.

The issues centred on Mr Brown complaining to the school about governance issues and his unsuccessful application to become a governor at the school.

The committee agreed with the commissioner’s findings that Mr Brown had conflated his own personal interest with the public interest and had failed to resolve this conflict.

MLA letterhead

It found he used his MLA letterhead in communications about his complaint to "improperly confer an advantage for himself".

The committee also agreed with the commissioner's conclusions that Mr Brown had brought the assembly into disrepute by failing to observe principles of "selflessness and objectivity".

Sinn Féin assembly member Carál Ní Chuilín, chair of the committee, said they would have recommended an appropriate sanction to the assembly if Mr Brown had remained an MLA.

"It is important that members should at all times conduct themselves in a manner which will maintain and strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity of the assembly and never undertake any action that would bring the assembly into disrepute," she added.

Alliance did not expand on the reasons for Mr Brown's sudden departure as an MLA when it was announced by the party in April.

It later emerged he had been facing the standards watchdog probe.

Shimna college principal Steve Pagan thanked Ms McCullough and the committee for their work.

He said their priority "remains the education and welfare of our students".

"We look forward to moving on from this affair and focusing exclusively on the business of running and governing the college," he added.

Mr Brown said everything he did was "in the interests of representing constituents".

He said he applied to the board of governors "as an MLA to help the school" and "not to benefit myself in any way".

DUP boycott complaints

Meanwhile, the standards and privileges committee has published reports on complaints against several former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ministers.

They relate to 2021 when DUP ministers were boycotting North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meetings in protest over post-Brexit trade checks affecting Northern Ireland.

The standards commissioner found the DUP assembly members - Paul Givan, Gordon Lyons, Michelle McIlveen, Gary Middleton and Edwin Poots - had breached the ministerial code of conduct.

Ms Ní Chuilín said current procedures do not provide the committee with an adjudication role relating to complaints against ministers.

She said it would be a matter for the assembly to consider whether there had been a breach of the code.