Debate contribution: Parades Commission: Drumcree Determination

Debate contribution by Mrs Diane Dodds on 28 September 2026.

MLA: Mrs Diane Dodds
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 28 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Matter of the Day
Heading: Parades Commission: Drumcree Determination
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5761753

Text

Before I address the remarks of the Members opposite, I will bring the House back to the point of remembering that the determination was lawful. It is a determination that was tested in the courts.
It is a determination that has the backing of the law in Northern Ireland: that 35 men can walk, with their collarettes, home from church and complete that parade. Let us remember that.
Let us address the protest notification. A protest notification for 5,000 people was put in by the residents' group. How proportionate is that to 35 Orangemen? Do you know what? It was withdrawn when they thought that they had won the first case. However, they lost in the Court of Appeal and in the High Court. Remember those things. Can we talk about community relations? The Orange Order has said clearly that this is peaceful and that it wants no violence and no disruption to ordinary people's lives. It has said that over and over again, but what do we have? We have the First Minister of Northern Ireland, the Finance Minister of Northern Ireland and other Ministers of Northern Ireland calling people out to block roads somewhere else. What are some Assembly Members and the Principal Deputy Speaker of the House doing? They are illegally blocking roads at the absolute direction of senior members of the IRA who were on the Garvaghy Road yesterday. Shame. It is nothing but a sectarian hate fest from you.
May I say this, Mr Speaker?
I will be heard on this point. Nothing is more important than the preservation of the rule of law, and it is absolutely fundamental to the way democracy operates.
It is fundamental to the way democracy operates. I also say this to the Justice Minister, who does not know whether Michelle O'Neill broke the law: that is a shameful position for the Justice Minister to be in. She spent much more time at the weekend attacking Gavin Robinson than she did —
— understanding what was happening on the Garvaghy Road.

341 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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