Sinn Féin Under Police Investigation Over Blocked Orange March in Northern Ireland

Opposition unionists call for the prosecution of Sinn Féin lawmakers who participated in the protest.

Northern Irish police have contacted representatives of Sinn Féin as part of an investigation into a protest that blocked a Protestant Orange Order parade from marching through the Catholic area of Garvaghy Road, the party said.

The Sinn Féin party leads Northern Ireland’s power‑sharing government alongside its main pro‑British rival, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has called for Sinn Féin lawmakers to be prosecuted.

In a Facebook statement on Thursday, Sinn Féin confirmed “that a number of its representatives and party members received correspondence” from police.

“Sinn Féin will continue to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents who should be allowed to live in peace and free from sectarian intimidation,” the party said.

The statement added that they have “stood with residents of the Garvaghy Road for the last two weeks in the face of provocation and the threat of an unwanted Orange march through their community”.

March permitted

Northern Ireland’s High Court permitted the Protestant Orange Order to march on the Catholic Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years.

Police have opened an investigation into the unlawful protest surrounding the march and indicated that anyone reasonably suspected of offences will receive letters inviting them for interviews.

Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald both took part in the protests.

The DUP called for O’Neill and other lawmakers to face prosecution, stating, “A political title is not a shield, and no one is above the law,” in a Thursday statement.

Historically, annual attempts by the Orange Order to march through Garvaghy Road sparked unrest before the Good Friday Agreement; the route was banned in 1998. The recent standoff has escalated into a political crisis affecting Northern Ireland’s power‑sharing government.

Source link