TUV accuse Translink of ignoring the Twelfth of July but not taking the same approach to GAA match

The TUV have written to Northern Ireland’s publicly owned transport provider accusing it of acknowledging nationalist culture but ignoring the Twelfth of July.

The unionist party was responding to a post on the social media platform X where Translink, on their official account, had shared selfies and photos with Armagh gaelic football fans travelling for their team’s All-Ireland semi final on the 13th July.

placeholder image — The TUV have accused Translink of ignoring the Twelfth of July while acknowledging nationalist culture. On the night of a controversial performance by the Wolfe Tones in 2021 Translink said they were "teaming up" with the "much-loved festival".

TUV party secretary Ann McClure wrote to Translink’s Chief Executive Chris Conway this week.

Mrs McClure said “A number of people have observed to me that there was no such post about the Twelfth of July celebrations the previous day, in spite of the fact that many thousands used Translink services to travel to and from parades with your buses in many cases parked in fleets at the end of parade routes.

“Why does Translink think it’s acceptable to acknowledge nationalist culture while ignoring Orangeism?”

In response to questions from the News Letter about the TUV secretary’s letter, a Translink spokesperson said: “We operate special transport to various events, including sports and concerts; and we frequently post photos of these event specials on our social media channels”.

Translink have previously “teamed-up” with the Féile an Phobail festival on the night of the controversial Wolfe Tones concert in 2021. The company then said on social media that it was providing late night bus services for festival-goers “as part of the much-loved festival” at Falls Park.

The publicly funded transport company, which arguably has a monopoly on parts of public transport in Northern Ireland, did not post any images of those attending the Twelfth of July celebrations this year – or indeed of those attending the annual sham fight at Scarva on the same day as GAA fans travelled to Dublin for the crucial mens gaelic football match.

Many of the Orange lodges and bands performing at both of the traditional annual events would have hired busses from Translink, and thousands of spectators would have used the company’s busses and trains to travel to and from the events.

Armagh defeated Kerry after extra time in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Semi-Final on July 13th at Croke Park, securing a place in this weekend’s final against Galway.