Sinn Fein TDs interviewed over Garvaghy Road

Sinn Fein TDs Pearse Doherty and Matt Carthy have attended a voluntary interview with police in Belfast following events on the Garvaghy Road last month.

They are the latest of a number of Sinn Fein and People Before Profit representatives to be interviewed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland over alleged breaches of the law at a protest in Portadown against the Drumcree Orange Order parade.

placeholder image — Sinn Féin TDs Matt Carthy (second from left) and Pearse Doherty (left), Sinn Féin MP John Finucane (right), and Lisburn and Castlereagh City councillor Declan Lynch (third from left) speak with the media at Musgrave Street police station in Belfast ahead of interviews with the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Mr Doherty said he and Sinn Fein are “proud to have stood with the Garvaghy Road community and defended 28 years of peace”.

“Standing up for what is right is always the right thing to do,” he said.

“We believe that it is right to have taken this stand and supported the peace process, supported the progress that we have seen. We defend the progress that we have seen over the last number of years, and there is no going back.”

Mr Carthy added: “Just to reiterate, myself and Pearce and other Sinn Fein representatives will be attending voluntarily for an interview with the PSNI.

“The interview will relate to the peaceful protest that we attended on the Garvaghy Road, and our view very strongly is that the parade on the Garvaghy Road was not a tolerable prospect, and that the peace that has been built on very painstakingly over the past 30 years is something to be protected.”

It comes as Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill claimed deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly had “blocked” representation at the Economic Forum in Glasgow on Friday, at which she would have met with her Scottish and Welsh counterparts John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth, as well as Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

UUP leader Jon Burrows said it was “an act of self-harm for our economy and our Union. We need a voice at the table with our Prime Minister and the other devolved leaders”.

TUV boss Jim Allister branded the DUP’s response “beyond pathetic”.

“No joint appearances with O’Neill, but sustaining O’Neill in office, is neither profound nor a consequence. It is as pitiful as it is pointless. No photo calls with the lawbreaker they continue to enthrone as First Minister barely even cuts it as a stunt”, the North Antrim MP said.