A non-binding motion of no confidence in Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir was not passed by the NI Assembly following a vote in the chamber on Tuesday.

The debate was opened by the DUP’s Deborah Erskine who said the motion stemmed from the cull of 51 cattle by DAERA on a farm near Fivemiletown.

The Fermanagh South Tyrone MLA said “a line in the sand was drawn” after the incident occurred in late June.

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During the debate, Alliance MLAs walked out of the chamber, with party leader Naomi Long describing the motion as “a pantomime”.

The walk out was criticised by MLAs from all parties, but in the end the non-binding motion was defeated by 38 votes against and 32 votes in support.

Assembly members from the DUP, Ulster Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice backed it, with the Alliance Party, Sinn Féin and the SDLP opposing it.

Speaking afterwards, Minister Muir defended his handling of the fallout from the Fivemiletown cull, stating that he “neither authorised nor directed” the operation.

“I moved quickly to commission an independent external review of the operation and if mistakes were made by my officials, they must be identified and lessons learned,” he said.