Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long exchanged messages with PSNI Deputy Chief Constable. The Ulster Unionist Party obtained the messages and published them on Saturday.

UUP members accused Long of trying to sway police action on a press release issued by political opponents. Long rejected the accusation. She said she only notified police of the issue.

On Monday Long appeared before MLAs at Stormont. The Speaker's office denied an urgent oral question on the messages. It also refused a matter of the day proposal on the topic.

UUP MLA Doug Beattie addressed the issue via a members' statement. The format allowed no questions to the minister.

Long's session that day covered her department's initiative on misconceptions about sexual violence. She also answered queries on MLA salaries. The PSNI messages did not come up.