{"id":644656,"date":"2026-10-04T16:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/644656\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T16:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:42:09","slug":"mary-lou-mcdonald-denies-taoiseachs-claim-sinn-fein-has-simplistic-view-of-drumcree-solution-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/644656\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Lou McDonald denies Taoiseach\u2019s claim Sinn F\u00e9in has \u2018simplistic\u2019 view of Drumcree solution \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> leader Mary Lou McDonald<\/a> has rejected the Taoiseach\u2019s suggestion that her party has an \u201coverly simplistic\u201d view of how to resolve the Drumcree dispute. <\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in has repeatedly called on the UK government to intervene and stop the Orange Order march which is at the centre of the continuing stand-off at Garvaghy Road in Portadown. <\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> told reporters on Saturday he did not agree with Sinn F\u00e9\u00edn\u2019s assessment that \u201cDrumcree could be sorted by me simply telling Andy Burnham what to do\u201d and accused the party of lacking \u201csincerity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked on the BBC\u2019s Sunday Politics programme if she accepted that \u201cthe reality is, it\u2019s not that simple\u201d, McDonald replied: \u201cwell, it is actually.\u201d <\/p>\n

She said Martin had \u201cdescribed the Parades Commission determination as incomprehensible and wrong, and he and I agree on that matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have impressed upon him and on all the others, on the British government, that there is a resolution to this, which is that the Secretary of State call this, make it clear that he puts a stop to this march, and thereby creates a space for a mediation and a dialogue.\u201d <\/p>\n

She also accused the Dublin and London governments of creating a \u201cvacuum\u201d by not working actively towards Irish unity, saying that while they \u201csit on their hands and fail to create the democratic space and dynamic for all of us to engage, to discuss, to plan about Ireland\u2019s future, while there is a vacuum there, we are sitting ducks for this kind of reactionary sideswipe from small elements in society who want to upend our progress. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo the government in London [and] particularly Miche\u00e1l Martin and the Government in Dublin, need to pay attention to that.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TaoiseachTaoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin criticised Sinn F\u00e9in’s stance at a Fianna F\u00e1il event on Saturday. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

The stand-off at Drumcree has been continuing since September 27th, when a limited march by 35 members of the Orange Order \u2013 which had been given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission and subsequently by the High Court \u2013 was prevented from proceeding due to the presence of protesters on the Garvaghy Road. <\/p>\n

The Orangemen have made a number of attempts to parade down the road since then, but their way has been blocked by police Land Rovers, and protesters continue to maintain a watch along the sides of the road. <\/p>\n

\"SupportersSupporters of the Orange Order at a festival in Edgarstown, Portadown, to rally the community behind the march. Photograph: Mark Marlow\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Rap trio Kneecap and contemporary Irish folk singer Radie Peat are expected to visit the area on Sunday evening, it is understood.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, rallies took place on the Garvaghy Road and in the loyalist Edgarstown estate in support of the two sides in the dispute. <\/p>\n

Addressing the several thousand who gathered in support of the residents, Sinn F\u00e9in vice-president and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill said that \u201cif the British government is not prepared to end this crisis, then it\u2019s up to every single one of us … to collectively and unequivocally stand with the Garvaghy Road residents and say no to a sectarian, unwanted march\u201d. <\/p>\n

The DUP MLA and Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, described it as \u201celectioneering\u201d and accused O\u2019Neill and Sinn F\u00e9in of \u201ca complete abdication of leadership\u201d. <\/p>\n

The district master of the Orange Order in Portadown, Nigel Dawson, said: \u201cWe\u2019re still waiting for the Chief Constable to do his job and put the parade down the road, as per our legal determination and backed up by a High Court judge.\u201d <\/p>\n

A fresh legal challenge to the march by the Garvaghy Road residents is due to be heard at the Court of Appeal in Belfast on Monday. <\/p>\n

Lawyers for the residents argue the Parades Commission \u201cmaterially misdirected itself\u201d on the police assessment of the potential for disorder, and had not given an \u201caccurate representation of the evidence received from the PSNI\u201d in its decision. <\/p>\n

\"DrumcreeDrumcree church in Portadown, where the proposed march would start. Photograph: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

On Sunday, McDonald again defended Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s participation in the protest against the march and said there was \u201cno question of us co-operating\u201d with any potential police investigation. <\/p>\n

A major police operation remained under way at Drumcree on Sunday and evidence gathering is \u201congoing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said \u201canyone blocking the Garvaghy Road will still be treated as participating in an unnotified and therefore illegal protest\u201d and \u201canyone found to have broken the law will face criminal justice consequences\u201d. Additional reporting \u2013 PA. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald has rejected the Taoiseach\u2019s suggestion that her party has an \u201coverly simplistic\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[57346,61,60,3658,1843,3659,43,2443,18254,3415,1192],"class_list":["post-644656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-emma-little-pengelly","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","tag-micheal-martin","tag-michelle-o-neill","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-orange-order","tag-sinn-fein","tag-uk-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644656","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=644656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}