A gardener who shouted "joke" after a Stormont recall failed to progress stalled organ donation laws has said he was speaking for the "ordinary, everyday people".
Gareth Burns was heard calling out the word from the Assembly's public gallery as MLAs brought their meeting on Tuesday to a close without success.
The DUP again vetoed the election of a Speaker in its protest against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol, meaning no further business could be conducted.
Read more: Dáithí's family 'taking the fight to London' as Stormont fails to progress organ donation law
An opt-out organ donation system was passed by MLAs last year, but secondary legislation needed to implement it has been delayed due to Stormont's collapse.
The legislation - named after six-year-old Belfast boy Dáithí MacGabhann who needs a heart transplant - has become a key issue of debate around the political impasse.
Mr Burns, from Kircubbin in Co Down, said he wanted a "snappy way of making a point" expressing frustration at the stalemate without interfering in the Assembly proceedings.
He added: "I'm speaking for the ordinary, everyday people. I'm speaking for the more moderate people like myself.
"I'm also speaking for the more cynical people who want it all done away with, but that's not what I think."
Mr Burns said that after shouting "joke", he was escorted by security from the Assembly chamber's public gallery to the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings.
The married father of two, who describes himself as a "pro-democracy campaigner", called for reform of Stormont's power-sharing institutions.
He added: "There is no point having a two-dimensional system for a three-dimensional people in Northern Ireland. We need to have equality between the political designations.
"It isn't about doing away with what came before. It's about adding an extra bit because our society has changed."
Mr Burns said the Alliance Party would be "closest to what my outlook is", but he added: "I would vote all the way down the card and I will change my preference depending on how these parties are operating."
The gardener, who has attended other recalls of the Assembly, said he was pleased to see the "discourse" between parties was "much better" than some previous occasions.
It was the sixth time since last May that the DUP has blocked restoring the Assembly as part of its protest against the protocol.
The party is refusing to resume power-sharing until significant changes are made to the Irish Sea trading arrangements.
Rival parties had sought to ramp up the pressure on the DUP to end its boycott of devolution, but the unionist party said the required organ donation regulations can be passed at Westminster.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson plans to introduce an amendment to the government's Executive Formation Bill to facilitate the passing of the regulations.
It will be for the Speaker's Office to decide whether to permit the DUP's planned amendment to the bill, which is aimed at extending the deadline for holding fresh Assembly elections.
But the Northern Ireland Office has said the prospect of this being permitted is "highly unlikely" as the scope of the bill is "very narrow".
The opt-out system, which aims to increase organ donation rates, would mean adults in Northern Ireland would be presumed to be donors unless they decide to opt out.
READ NEXT:
Stormont catering contract awarded to firm supplying 'substandard' food to US prisons
Barrier placed at Belfast city centre cycle lane after woman injured in fall
Two MLAs hit £7,000 office costs spending limit three months early amid rising energy bills
New Northern Ireland planning applications portal "unacceptably poor" says architecture group
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
