{"id":384609,"date":"2026-04-06T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384609\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:01:11","slug":"edwin-poots-says-residents-may-have-to-block-road-to-stop-cliftonville-fans-getting-to-windsor-park-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384609\/","title":{"rendered":"Edwin Poots says residents \u2018may have to block road\u2019 to stop Cliftonville fans getting to Windsor Park \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assembly speaker Edwin Poots<\/a> has said that local residents may have to block the road to ensure that Cliftonville FC<\/a> supporters are unable to access Windsor Park following disorder on Friday. <\/p>\n

The DUP MLA for South Belfast<\/a> made the comments in response to unrest which broke out on Friday night ahead of Cliftonville\u2019s match against Dungannon Swifts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A fan parade of around 200 supporters, which was approved by the Parades Commission, resulted in fireworks and bottles being thrown ahead of the Irish Cup semi-final at Windsor Park. <\/p>\n

Read more: Nine police officers injured and child struck by bottle in disorder before Irish Cup semi-final in Belfast<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Edwin<\/a>\"Mo<\/a><\/p>\n

The disorder saw nine police officers injured and a child hit by a bottle. <\/p>\n

\"CliftonvillePolice in riot gear keep watch on Cliftonville fans at Broadway near Windsor Park after Cliftonville’s defeat on penalties to Dungannon in the Irish Cup semi-final on Friday <\/p>\n

A 19-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences, including riotous behaviour. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Mr Poots said that local residents were \u201chugely angry\u201d but added that it was \u201cnot something new\u201d. <\/p>\n

Disorder also broke out in the area during last year\u2019s final<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been engaging with the police over the past two years,\u201d he told the BBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time Cliftonville came to Windsor Park there was complaints that the police were too heavy handed and that they were too restrictive to the Cliftonville football supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CliftonvilleDisorder on Friday followed similar unrest during last year’s cup final \"AssemblyAssembly Speaker Edwin Poots (Liam McBurney\/PA) <\/p>\n

Mr Poots added that for \u201csome bizarre reason\u201d the policing effort was reduced on Friday and that the locals were \u201cnot going to accept\u201d the behaviour anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn this occasion, they let off fireworks, they threw bottles, they threw eggs, they chanted IRA slogans and sang sectarian songs,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll make it very clear: the local community are not going to accept it anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that involves them having to come out and sit on the road in large numbers and ensure that these people will not be able to access Windsor Park, that\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former IFA President and patron of Cliftonville FC, Jim Boyce said he, along with many of the club\u2019s fans, were \u201cabsolutely disgusted\u201d by the behaviour.<\/p>\n

Mr Boyce said that he didn\u2019t think people sitting on the street is \u201cgoing to be the answer\u201d and noted that he found some of Mr Poots\u2019 comments \u201ca little bit disturbing\u201d. <\/p>\n

The PSNI has said that they will \u201cnot tolerate disorder or criminal behaviour of any kind\u201d and noted that they will \u201ccontinue to work with football clubs to address any inappropriate behaviour linked to people attending matches and ensure that the local community is kept safe\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of fans were there to enjoy the match, however, there was completely unacceptable behaviour from a proportion of fans both before and after the match, at what should have been an enjoyable and safe event for all attending,\u201d a spokesperson added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Assembly speaker Edwin Poots has said that local residents may have to block the road to ensure that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[171272,78087,61,60,112,170254],"class_list":{"0":"post-384609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-cliftonville","9":"tag-edwin-poots","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-windsor-park"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}