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Sinn Fein in Police Investigation Over Protest Blocking Orange Order Parade

By Reuters

Northern Irish police have begun an investigation into a protest that blocked a Protestant Orange Order march through the Catholic area of Garvaghy Road, according to Sinn Fein. The party said it had received correspondence from police regarding the incident. Sinn Fein, which co‑heads the Northern Ireland power‑sharing government with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), stated it will continue to support Garvaghy Road residents, who it says should live free from sectarian intimidation. The protest followed a High Court decision that allowed the Orange Order to march on Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years. Police said they will interview people reasonably suspected of committing offences. Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O’Neill and party president Mary Lou McDonald took part in the protests. The DUP has called for O’Neill and other Sinn Fein lawmakers to be prosecuted, asserting that no political title is a shield from the law. The dispute over the Orange Order route has been a long‑standing issue in Northern Ireland, with attempts to march through the area causing unrest before the route was banned in 1998. The current standoff has escalated into a political crisis affecting the region’s power‑sharing government.