Anti-Protocol activist says loyalists could take protests to heart of Dublin as Saoradh members fail to materialise

He was speaking at a rally in Dungannon town centre this evening – one of two similar demonstrations happening in the Province (Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and others were speaking in Ballymoney).

A rumoured counter-protest by members of Saoradh did not materialise.

Mr Holmes, a teacher by trade, has become a frequent face at anti-Protocol gatherings over the last several months.

He estimated the crowd to be at least 800 to 1,000-strong.

He shared his written speech with the News Letter shortly before heading to the demonstration.

In it, he repeated this mantra several times: “Our claims our true, and our cause is just.”

He dubbed the Protocol “an iniquitous agreement between the British Government and the European Union, conceded to by a lily-livered British Prime Minister who bowed to the threat of Republican violence”.

Elaborating on this, he said: “When the Irish Government pointed their finger to the past, as Leo Varadkar spoke of death and destruction at the border, they did so knowing full well that the threat of Republican violence could coerce our own government into selling us down the river.

“Twenty five years. Twenty five years into this peace process. Twenty five years and still the threat of Republican violence takes precedence over guarantees and political promises made to the ordinary law-abiding Unionist.

“This is in all shades and in every sense of the word an injustice.

“There has arguably never been a more important and worthy political cause to devote oneself to.

“For there has arguably never been a more serious and dangerous threat to the Union than what there is in the Protocol.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is as stark as this: if the Protocol lives, the Union dies.”

He said that “rather than quieting down, Unionists and Loyalists should get a lot louder” and that “rather than look the other way, I say Unionism should look its opponents in the eye”.

What this translates into, he suggested, was peaceful demonstrations at the Port of Larne, and at The Dail in Dublin, or at Parliament in London.

He ended with this: “Once again, just like long ago, Ulster is right. Remove the Irish Sea border.”

Other speakers on the night included Clement Cuthbertson, a DUP councillor for the area, and TUV Assembly candidate Alex Elliott.

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