Member's statement: Garvaghy Road: Rule of Law
Member's statement by Mrs Diane Dodds on .
- MLA
- Mrs Diane Dodds
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 5 October 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Garvaghy Road: Rule of Law
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5773897
Read the official Assembly record
Text
A democratic society will function only when we obey simple rules, and that rule is that everyone is equal under the law and everyone is equally subject to the law. In the early hours of Sunday 27 September, Mr Justice Humphreys, in an emergency sitting at the High Court, ruled that the case against the Parades Commission determination from the Portadown district on a parade of 35 Orangemen walking in silence down the Garvaghy Road stood; in fact, his written judgement indicates that the case was unarguable. Since then, we have witnessed an intolerant mob blocking the Garvaghy Road and preventing the lawful determination of the courts. The law-abiding people of Northern Ireland have witnessed the First Minister of Northern Ireland, led by the hand by the dissident republican Breandán Mac Cionnaith and Colin Duffy and directed by the Provos, who were visibly present in Portadown all week. She deliberately flouts the law that she has signed up to uphold. There were also the Finance Minister, the Principal Deputy Speaker of the House and members of the Policing Board. We have the incredibly farcical situation where a member of the Policing Board can ask about the breaking of the law that she herself did. It is absolutely farcical. The Finance Minister read into the record the names of those who lost their lives. All lives are a terrible loss in a devastating conflict conducted by the IRA. This weekend, however, we saw a supposed carnival at which old men sang songs such as 'My Old Man's a Provo'. Let us remind ourselves what the Provos did: that cowardly bunch of criminals killed 339 members of the Orange Order in the course of an absolutely rampant criminal campaign of murder and destruction in Northern Ireland. This weekend, we witnessed — it was directed by some of the Members opposite — pure sectarianism in its most visceral form in Northern Ireland. That is what the Portadown district and the residents in Corcrain, Edgarstown and in other parts of Portadown had to listen to all weekend. We have seen members of the legal profession threatened, some requiring police protection, and we have seen —
— quite frankly, a weak response from the Chief Constable.
371 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Awaiting analysis
This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.