DUP chiefs are to meet over the Drumcree fallout as pressure grows to quit Stormont over Sinn Féin's protest

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has blocked First Minister Michelle O'Neill from attending Friday's National Economic Council in Glasgow, leaving Northern Ireland unrepresented at the UK economic summit hosted by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. O'Neill called the move a "reactive stunt driven by the DUP's own internal pressures" and said she has contacted Northern Secretary Chris Bryant to register her objection. DUP leader Gavin Robinson faces mounting internal revolt over his refusal to pull Little-Pengelly from the Stormont Executive. A news conference is expected this afternoon to announce what sanctions the party has decided on.

Collapsing the Executive would automatically remove O'Neill from office under powersharing rules, as the posts are joint.

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart, the most vocal voice demanding Little-Pengelly's withdrawal, resigned as a party officer last week over the split with Robinson.

Two Sinn Féin TDs, Pearse Doherty and Matt Carthy, voluntarily attended police interviews in Belfast today over their role in the Drumcree standoff.