Ní Chuilín found to have breached Assembly code of conduct

A Sinn Féin MLA has been found to have breached the Assembly code of conduct for failing to declare to a committee that her son had been investigated over vandalism of a portrait of a former DUP lord mayor.

Carál Ní Chuilín has written a letter of apology to the Assembly’s Committee on Standards and no further action will be taken.

Ms Ní Chuilín’s son Naoise O Chuilín was interviewed by police over the damage to the portrait of peer Lord Browne at an Irish language event in Belfast City Hall in October 2024.

In a statement released by his solicitor last year, Mr O Chuilín, said the allegation he was involved in the damage of the portrait is “entirely false, baseless and malicious”.

The Public Prosecution Service said there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction on the available evidence.

The issue had been mentioned in a meeting of Stormont’s Executive Office committee in 2025, during which Ms Ní Chuilín, who is principal deputy speaker at Stormont, did not declare an interest.

Complaints were made against her by two unionist MLAs to Assembly Standards Commissioner Stephen Wright.

The results of his investigation have now been published by the Committee on Standards.

The commissioner concluded that Ms Ní Chuilín had breached Rule 5 of the Code when she failed to declare a relevant interest at the committee meeting.

In addition, he considered that Ms Ní Chuilín had failed to uphold the principles of openness and leadership.

The chairwoman of the committee, Cathy Mason said: “The committee takes allegations of breaches of the Assembly’s Code of Conduct very seriously.

“Therefore, it was right that an independent investigation was carried out in order to establish the facts in relation to the allegations made.

“While the Member was found to have breached the code, the committee noted that there were mitigating circumstances in this case.

“The member has stated that she is committed to maintaining the high standards required of Members, will ensure that such a breach does not occur again and has apologised to the committee.

“I am therefore pleased that, following receipt of a written apology from the Member, the Committee has reported to the Assembly that the matter has now been resolved.

“Arising from the case, the committee will also be recommending that further guidance is included in the code regarding the requirements on all MLAs to declare relevant interests.”