Debate contribution: Parades Commission: Drumcree Determination
Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on .
- MLA
- Mr John O'Dowd
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 28 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Matter of the Day
- Heading
- Parades Commission: Drumcree Determination
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5761696
Read the official Assembly record
Text
This debate reflects the tribute that my colleague Pat Sheehan paid to Pól de Buitléir. Pól was born into a state that treated him and his family as second-class citizens. It violently beat those who demanded civil rights off the streets, and its armed forces attacked and killed people — all in pursuit of maintaining the status quo and ensuring that there were second-class citizens in this society. I and other Sinn Féin Members stood on the Garvaghy Road over the weekend to ensure that there will never, ever be a return to second-class citizenship in this society and that no one, on behalf of anyone, will beat people off the streets ever again. What is this all about? The people of the Garvaghy Road and the people of Portadown, whether they live in Redmanville, Killycomaine or Corcrain, are being used by those who want to draw this society backwards. They are being used by elements who are not acting in their interest. For 28 years, we have had relative peace on the streets of Portadown because a solution was found, but some people cannot continue to observe it. Members of the Orange Order march to their religious service on the first Sunday in July unhindered and unstopped. They go and have their service. They could return by the same route; they choose not to. It works, because the community can get on with its life. The parade is steeped in a history of murder, violence, intimidation and supremacy. The first parade ever to take place there resulted in the murder of two Catholic farmhands not far from the church. How can a parade that started with such a beginning be seen as anything other than an act of intimidation and supremacy against the community that is being forced to host it? I and other Sinn Féin Members will continue to stand with the people of the Garvaghy Road. If somebody from my community said, "John, I think we should march through the Shankill Road", "I think we should march through Markethill", or "I think we should march through Redmanville", do you know where I would stand? I would stand with the people of those communities in facing those people down.
371 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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