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By Greg O’Loughli,
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said “This is an utterly reckless decision from the Parades Commission. The disregard for the community on the Garvaghy Road is shocking. They have the right to live free from sectarian harassment. We stand in solidarity with them.”
Ms. McDonald said, “This is a reckless decision from the Parades Commission. The disregard for the community on the Garvaghy Road is shocking and is impossible to understand.
“All sense of responsibility has gone out the window and this represents a fundamental assault on the Good Friday Agreement.
“The community on the Garvaghy Road has the right to live free from sectarian harassment and hatred.
“They have to right to live and raise their families in peace, as they have done for the last twenty eight years. There is no going back. The forces of the past cannot undermine the progress which was so hard won or stop progress for the future.
“The residents of the Garvaghy Road oppose this reckless decision and Sinn Féin stands in solidarity with them.
“We have spoken to the Chief Constable and made plain the serious implications of this decision for communities across the north.
“We have spoken with the British Secretary of State and with the Taoiseach and Tanáiste. The Irish government must stand in support of the Garvaghy residents and their obligation under the Good Friday Agreement to ensure this community can live free from sectarian harassment.
“There is a court process this evening. But of course the British Secretary of State has the power to revoke this determination. That is what he must do if necessary.”
Garvaghy decision disgraceful and shocking – Mary Lou McDonald
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Michelle O’Neill responds to the decision to force Orange march through Garvaghy Road
Leas-Uachtarán Shinn Féin Michelle O’Neill has strongly condemned the decision by the Parades Commission to force an Orange march through the Garvaghy Road community.
Ms O’Neill said, “There is no reasonable or logical basis for the Parades Commission’s announcement that permission has been granted to force an unwanted Orange march through the Garvaghy Road community this Sunday.
“For 28 years, the Garvaghy Road community has lived in peace, and the people of that community have been able to get on with their lives.
“28 years of peace was not a problem that required a solution. It was a peace that needed to be protected.
“This march is steeped in a history of hate, sectarian violence, and murder.
“People right across the North are absolutely dismayed.
“Sinn Féin stands fully with the Garvaghy Road community, and they will have the full support of Nationalists from right across Ireland in the period ahead.”
