Drumcree: Michelle O’Neill not recieved PSNI investigation letter

First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she has not yet received a letter from police investigating protests over the Drumcree parading dispute.

On Thursday, the police said they had begun issuing letters inviting people “reasonably suspected” of committing offences linked to the protests to interview.

Unionist politicians have called for action to be taken against O’Neill and other senior Sinn Féin politicians who took part in the protests against the Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road at the end of last month.

O’Neill has previously defended her attendance, saying she was “proud to stand with the residents” and that “when the law is wrong, I will stand firmly against it”.

Asked on Friday whether she expected to receive a letter from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Sinn Féin vice-president said: “Of course I do.”

She said that when she does, she “will respond accordingly”.

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said on Thursday that “a number of representatives and party members have received correspondence from the PSNI” in relation to the issue, adding that “standing up for what is right is always the right thing to do”.

O’Neill was speaking briefly in Belfast to reporters as she arrived for a visit to the offices of the Bank of America.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), arrived separately at the engagement.

Speaking to reporters outside, she welcomed developments in the PSNI investigation.

Little-Pengelly also defended her attendance at the business engagement, after the DUP previously said it could not be “business as usual” at Stormont in response to Sinn Féin’s involvement in protests on Garvaghy Road.

Speaking to the Nolan Show, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he expected “to see sanctions” for those investigated by the police.