Northern Ireland’s Education Minister Paul Givan has found himself at the center of a political firestorm following a contentious six-day visit to Israel, sparking a no confidence motion in the Stormont Assembly and igniting fierce debate across the political spectrum. The controversy, unfolding on November 10, 2025, has drawn in unionist and nationalist parties, teaching unions, and members of the public, reflecting deep divisions both within the Assembly and in the wider community.
The motion, spearheaded by Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit and backed by Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), charges Givan with failing to uphold the Pledge of Office and the Ministerial Code of Conduct. Specifically, it claims he misused departmental resources to promote his Israel trip, which included sharing images of a visit to a school in Jerusalem. The motion calls for Givan’s exclusion from ministerial office for 12 months, stating that he "no longer enjoys the confidence of the assembly, because of his failure to observe… the Pledge of Office, relating to his duty to uphold and support the rule of law; and his failure to observe paragraph (g) relating to his duty to comply with the Ministerial Code of Conduct."
Despite the motion’s strong language and broad support among nationalist and centrist parties, it is almost certain to fail. As reported by BBC News NI, Stormont’s cross-community voting rules require backing from both unionists and nationalists, but the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) have all refused to support it. They have dismissed the effort as "performative," with DUP leader Gavin Robinson declaring, "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."
Givan, for his part, has fiercely defended his actions and motives. In a heated address to the Assembly, he described the no confidence motion as a "toxic mix of antisemitism, anti-unionism and hypocrisy," accusing his critics of ideological purging and double standards. "This is not principled politics - it's an attempt at ideological purging," Givan asserted, adding, "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." He further described the charges against him as "trumped up" and likened the situation to "Alice in Wonderland territory."
The trip itself, organized by the Israeli government, included other unionist politicians such as DUP MP Sammy Wilson, Steve Aiken from the UUP, and TUV councillor Ron McDowell. The delegation received briefings from Israel’s foreign ministry, visited a Holocaust memorial, met victims of Hamas, and toured Ofek School in Jerusalem. According to Givan’s updated Stormont register of interests, the trip’s costs—amounting to £3,810 for flights, accommodation, food, and transport—were covered by the Israeli embassy in London. Givan has repeatedly emphasized that "the trip came at no cost to the taxpayer, at all."
Nevertheless, the optics of the visit, which occurred against the backdrop of ongoing violence in the region, have proved deeply divisive. On October 7, 2023, a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 abductions. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, caused over 68,500 deaths. In September, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars declared that genocide was taking place in Gaza, a claim Israel continues to reject.
Critics of Givan’s trip argue that it amounted to a propaganda exercise and demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to the suffering in Gaza. Sinn Féin assembly member Declan Kearney accused Givan of acting "as a prop for a propaganda stunt" and lacking "one ounce of humility, compassion or regret for the people of Gaza, or the anger that you have provoked." Similarly, Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson described the visit as a "propaganda mission," stating, "He could at any point have recognised and apologised for the hurt caused, committed to an independent review of his and his department's action and referred himself to the standards process, but instead he lashed out and doubled down."
SDLP leader Claire Hanna, speaking ahead of the motion, said it was appropriate for MLAs to "have the opportunity to express their constituents' moral revulsion." She added, "We are calling on all parties to read the room and to realise how disconnected Stormont is for the average person, and the desperate need to reform this assembly, how it delivers and how it connects with people." The SDLP has also tabled a separate motion calling for reforms to ministerial accountability mechanisms.
Teaching unions joined the chorus of criticism, objecting to the use of departmental resources for what they saw as political promotion and calling for a press release about the school visit to be removed from the Department of Education’s website. Givan, however, defended the press release, stating it was "a request that was quite properly approved at the highest level in the department before it was issued." He also cited a review conducted by the department’s permanent secretary Ronnie Armour and other senior officials, which, he said, "gave a clean bill of health, not just to me as minister but to every civil servant in my department that their actions were entirely appropriate."
People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll, who organized protests against Givan and proposed the no confidence motion, argued that "in any other jurisdiction the minister would go - he would be toast." Carroll said the Assembly’s rules made it possible for a minister to face a majority of MLAs and parties against him, yet "he goes nowhere. It's a ludicrous situation." Carroll further accused Givan of making "deeply offensive and unfounded accusations of antisemitism because he is in a tailspin."
Other voices in the Assembly highlighted the broader dysfunction in Stormont’s political system. UUP deputy leader Robbie Butler remarked, "I can think of few moments that illustrate our dysfunction more clearly than this one," referencing past controversies where accountability was lacking. SDLP assembly member Matthew O'Toole accused Givan of "a shameless compromising of his civil servants' impartiality," while Alliance’s Eóin Tennyson lamented Givan’s refusal to apologize or seek an independent review.
Independent unionist Claire Sugden is the only unionist representative to confirm her support for the motion, a rare break in the otherwise solid unionist opposition. Meanwhile, public sentiment spilled into the Assembly chamber itself, with a protester removed from the public gallery for disrupting the debate, shouting "shame on you" at Givan as police escorted her out. Some MLAs applauded the protester, underscoring the emotional charge of the issue.
As the dust settles, the episode has laid bare not just the deep divides over the Israel-Gaza conflict, but also the pressing need for reform in how Stormont holds its ministers to account. For now, Paul Givan remains in office, but the debate has left a mark on Northern Ireland’s political landscape, raising tough questions about governance, accountability, and the responsibilities of public officials in a divided society.
