Debate contribution: Parades Commission: Drumcree Determination

Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on 28 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Phillip Brett
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 5761836

Text

Let me respond directly to the Benches opposite. The only party in the Chamber that is steeped in a history of murder, intimidation and sectarianism is Sinn Féin. For all its lauded words to distract from where we are and not content on Saturday with its republican mob intimidating elected unionist representatives — Sinn Féin Members talk about being the defender of females but were happy to stand idly by as Mrs Diane Dodds and Carla Lockhart were chased, spat at and threatened — there was not a word from the so-called defenders of women's rights. At the heart of all this is law and order. Members on the Benches opposite speak eloquently about second-class citizens, but the only people whom Sinn Féin and the SDLP want to be second-class citizens are members of the Orange institution. The law has clearly stated that they have the right —.
I will be heard, Ms Sheerin. You can scream like a banshee all you want, but you will not stop me speaking.
You will not stop me speaking. Mr Speaker, Sinn Féin does not like the law. It has moved on from the days of murdering members of the judiciary to openly trying to defy its rulings. The only people who brought disruption to the Garvaghy Road were those in the republican mob that stood on it at the weekend. The children of the Garvaghy Road were unable to go to school today because the so-called First Minister for all stood side by side with convicted terrorists, calling people on to the streets. The First Minister used to speak of "unionist brothers and sisters", but that language has been replaced by that of Breandán Mac Cionnaith's "Orange bastards". We in the Chamber will stand by the rule of law. Sinn Féin may not like it, but it does not get to dictate who sets the law in this country. I say this directly to the SDLP: I know that you are in electoral decline, but, by tying yourself to Sinn Féin, you will be eaten up by it.
Mr McNulty, standing side by side with Breandán Mac Cionnaith —
— is not going to win you your selection battle. You are still going to be deselected by your party. You stood beside Colin Duffy, a man charged with the killing of two members of the army. That is the man beside whom you claim to be proud to stand. I agree with the First Minister that we are not going back to the days of the past. The days of republican threats dictating the law of this land are over. The days of Sinn Féin intimidating unionists are over. We will ensure that the rule of law is followed.

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

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