Member's statement: Garvaghy Road: Illegal Protests

Member's statement by Mr Paul Frew on 28 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Paul Frew
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 28 September 2026
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Garvaghy Road: Illegal Protests
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5761880

Text

I lament what happened at the weekend. There are two aspects to it. The first is about the fulfilment of rights. We should all be concerned about that. Even if we do not belong to a particular community or people, we should make sure that that community or those people enjoy the same rights as every other citizen in the country. That has not always been the case in this place. Look back at how people were treated and discriminated against during the COVID years. We should adhere to the principle that everyone deserves to live in peace and freedom. The people of the Garvaghy Road deserve to live in peace and freedom, and that was denied to them yesterday by Sinn Féin-oriented protests. Mr McGuigan, who is a constituency colleague of mine, knows full well that he and I, along with others, work tirelessly in our communities to ensure that Parades Commission determinations go off peacefully. There are some of those decisions that I will not agree with, and there are some that he will not agree with, yet we get by. What happened this weekend represented intolerance of the highest order. It denied people their rights — that is the bottom line. If you cannot afford 35 men two minutes to walk down a road at 8.00 am, you have major issue with fundamental rights. When a protest is orchestrated that blocks people in their homes for 24 or 48 hours, the orchestrators of that protest have a fundamental problem with rights. The second aspect to what happened at the weekend is a major issue that will face the country, its people, this establishment and the Executive. That is the fact that people here who are in positions of power and responsibility, including the First Minister, a Deputy Speaker, Ministers, MLAs, councillors and members of the Policing Board, took part — my colleague from North Antrim, Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan, just admitted that he took part — in an illegal protest. I expect the police to be knocking on Philip's door — I really do — and I would hope that they will practise the rule of law. I also expect people to complain to the standards commissioner, because of the rules by which we abide: the ministerial code. That should be taken seriously. It states that Ministers will pledge:
"(a) to discharge in good faith all the duties of office; (b) commitment to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means ... (cd) to uphold the rule of law based ... on the fundamental principles ... (ce) to support the rule of law unequivocally in word and deed".
You have failed. You have failed Northern Ireland. You have failed your own people and all the people of Northern Ireland.

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

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