DUP blocks attempt to appoint Northern Ireland assembly speaker

‘The DUP are punishing the public … It is the public who are being held to ransom because of their actions,’ said Michelle O’Neill. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

The vice-president of Sinn Féin, Michelle O’Neill, has said that efforts to resurrect Northern Ireland’s assembly at Stormont will continue, after the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) blocked a second attempt to elect a new speaker.

The DUP is maintaining its position that it wants to see action from the UK government over the Northern Ireland protocol before backing a new speaker, which would enable the assembly to start fully functioning again. It described the recall of the assembly on Monday as a “stunt”.