What happened at the Democratic Unionist Party’s meeting of their executive on Monday night?

The 120-strong party executive which forms the wing of the DUP that is involved in making all new decisions met tonight at the Larchfield Estate near Lisburn.

It was reported by BBC News at 8 pm that the DUP party officers had already decided on a deal that aims to restore power-sharing.

There is also the party officer board – separate from the executive – it has just 12 members. If the DUP leader wants to get a deal over the line, he needs to convince his party officers.

The real headache for the DUP, and in particular, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, is what happened when the meeting started. Loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson began tweeting what he called, a blow-by-blow account of everything that was said in the meeting.

The meeting was stopped when they found out that it was being fed live to Jamie Bryson, just after the DUP leader complained about recent leaks to the media.

It was then accused by a DUP delegate that it could be a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer leaking the information.

Another of Mr Bryson’s posts on X states: “[Jeffrey Donaldson] says PSNI brought in to try and block phone signals.”

The PSNI have since issued a statement denying they had any involvement with the meeting.

Allison Morris of the Belfast Telegraph has said that sources have told her that “a number of senior DUP members were aware of tonight’s plan to sabotage/bug the meeting, a team effort from JD’s enemies within [the party].

What next?

It is unclear whether or not the meeting has ended. The DUP leader is due to speak with the media once the meeting has finished.

Follow us on X @NI_Elects for the latest updates.