LMIU statement on Drumcree

Labour Movement for Irish Unity sends solidarity to the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition. The right to protest against a parade through a local community by a group that has a history and a current profile seeking to denigrate and discriminate against the residents’ religion and language, should not be characterised as an illegal act. We regret that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has chosen to criticise those standing up for their community.

Instead, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should have used his powers to ensure that any such parade was not permitted. There were other routes that the Orange Order could have chosen that did not include a road that is traditionally Nationalist in a town which is predominantly Loyalist.

Failing to do so also undermines the assertion that the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is primarily about supporting reconciliation, transparency and closure in relation to the many breaches of civil and human rights between 1966 and 1998.

Unless the Government recognises the abuse of civil and human rights taking place on the Garvaghy Road, communities will not place any trust in the repurposed Legacy Commission created by the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.