SDLP Justin McNulty MLA spoke today in Stormont regarding the Garvaghy Road.
McNulty MLA stated:
“I was humbled and proud to stand with the residents of the Garvaghy Road from Saturday morning through Sunday. When I arrived on the Road after midnight on Saturday night, I experienced the foreboding atmosphere and was struck by the strong sense of determined defiance in everyone’s eyes. I spoke to countless residents who stressed that they were not there for themselves, but they were there for their children. They do not want their children and their grandchildren to experience the same horrors that was part of their lives with the Drumcree march growing up. I spoke to Tír na nÓg Ladies Gaelic Football Players who came out in the middle of the night to support their parents, aunties, and neighbours after their gut-wrenching injury time defeat in the County Final. I want to applaud them and I want to applaud each and every person who came out on to the Garvaghy Road in such a dignified and determined manner. When a community comes together united by a just and shared cause, it is deeply powerful. You should all stand tall. You should all stand proud.
“The residents, the people of the North including large swathes of Unionism, want Stormont to see sense. They want political leadership that does not allow tensions to boil over. They want their peace protected and to get on with their lives, to raise their families, to go to work and school without worrying about the divisions of the past.
“For the residents of the Garvaghy Road, Drumcree is not a distant memory. The people of the Garvaghy Road should not be forced to relive the fear, trauma, and violence of the past. This is not just 35 men walking down the street – this is a demonstration of dominance and a reminder of the past where 21 people, including children, were killed.
“As Bríd Rodgers has stated regarding Drumcree: ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’ Hundreds of parades occur every year without issue, but this one should not have been permitted to go on because of a technical blunder by the Parades Commission. It is an irresponsible choice that the Parades Commission and the Secretary of State allowed for the parade to go on and can only be described as fanning flames of division.
“Nobody, I say again, nobody should be using this decision to inflame sectarian tensions. We need now only to hear messages of calm. The Secretary of State, the UK Prime Minister, and the Taoiseach need to do all in their power to de-escalate and to protect our peace, and to move all our communities forward positively together. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. We rely on each other for shelter from the storm.”
ENDS