{"id":670363,"date":"2026-10-31T00:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T00:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/670363\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T00:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T00:22:12","slug":"sixty-suspects-identified-by-psni-in-investigation-into-drumcree-protests-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/670363\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixty suspects identified by PSNI in investigation into Drumcree protests \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sixty suspects have been identified by police investigating protests against the Orange Order<\/a> parade at Drumcree which sparked a two-week standoff between marchers and local residents. <\/p>\n

In an update to the investigation on Friday afternoon, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)<\/a> Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said 30 officers were \u201cmethodically working through over 70 hours of recorded material\u201d and have \u201cbuilt evidential packages in respect of 60 identified suspects\u201d.<\/p>\n

Eighteen of those suspects have been interviewed, he said, and \u201ccase files are now being prepared before being submitted to the Public Prosecution Service for prosecutorial decisions, in line with normal process\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among those who have been interviewed by police are Sinn F\u00e9in president Mary Lou McDonald<\/a> and party vice-president and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill. <\/p>\n

On Friday, Sinn F\u00e9in councillors Catherine Nelson and Conor McKay were the latest members of the party to attend a Belfast police station for interview as part of the investigation.<\/p>\n

\"NorthNorth Belfast MP John Finucane, Sinn F\u00e9in councillors Catherine Nelson and Conor McKay, and solicitor P\u00e1draig \u00d3 Muirigh at Musgrave police station in Belfast. Photograph: Rebecca Black\/Press Association <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters as she arrived, Nelson said she was \u201cvery proud to have stood with\u201d the Garvaghy Road residents. <\/p>\n

Beck said the investigation was \u201clikely to be long-running\u201d and would continue over the coming weeks. <\/p>\n

A decision by the Parades Commission<\/a> to give the go-ahead for the Drumcree parade to take place on September 27th for the first time in 28 years sparked a stand-off between the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents and their supporters. <\/p>\n

On October 9th, Northern Secretary Chris Bryant intervened to end the stalemate by banning the march following a request by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher that he review the permission for the march to proceed.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0From local row to peace-process shambles: How the Drumcree standoff developedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The PSNI launched an investigation into the protests, which were not notified to the Parades Commission and were therefore deemed illegal. <\/p>\n

On Friday, the First and deputy First Ministers did not attend an economic event in Glasgow after the DUP announced Emma Little-Pengelly would no longer participate in joint engagements with O\u2019Neill due to unionist anger over her involvement in the protests. <\/p>\n

The DUP MP Carla Lockhart resigned as a party officer last week after calling for the withdrawal of Little-Pengelly \u2013 which would automatically remove O\u2019Neill as First Minister \u2013 and there is mounting speculation she is preparing to quit the party. <\/p>\n

The DUP has said it will implement a range of \u201csanctions\u201d against Sinn F\u00e9in but has stopped short of removing Little-Pengelly as Deputy First Minister or triggering the collapse of the Stormont institutions. <\/p>\n

Lockhart on Friday said she would \u201cset out the path ahead early next week\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy principles and my commitment to the people who put me here will guide that path,\u201d she said in a statement on Facebook. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is much interest in me and my future. But this has never been about me. It has always been a point of principle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to represent Upper Bann and serve my constituents with every bit of the energy, commitment and vigour I always have. Rest assured, I am not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n

DUP leader Gavin Robinson told the BBC on Friday that he understood Lockhart\u2019s position. He said \u201cI don\u2019t want to see her go\u201d but \u201cthe fundamental position of the Democratic Unionist Party has already been decided\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DUPDUP leader Gavin Robinson. Photograph: Liam McBurney\/Press Association <\/p>\n

As part of those sanctions, the DUP will also refuse permission to O\u2019Neill to fulfil engagements on her own in the role of First Minister. <\/p>\n

Under the powersharing rules governing Stormont, the posts of First and Deputy First Minister are a joint office, and one cannot be in post without the other. <\/p>\n

A separate meeting between O\u2019Neill and Little-Pengelly with UK prime minister Andy Burnham, to discuss the continued failure to agree a budget at Stormont, did not take place. <\/p>\n

Speaking in Glasgow, Burnham said it was a \u201cshame we do not have colleagues from Northern Ireland\u201d but \u201cwe\u2019re working with them on the same agenda\u201d of growth. <\/p>\n

The DUP\u2019s boycott will also prevent a meeting between O\u2019Neill and Little-Pengelly and President Catherine Connolly at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, and means O\u2019Neill will not be able to attend Remembrance Sunday commemorations at the Cenotaph in Belfast this weekend. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Additional reporting: PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sixty suspects have been identified by police investigating protests against the Orange Order parade at Drumcree which sparked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85530,73902,57346,26188,61,60,140069,3658,3659,43,18254,171620,21754],"class_list":["post-670363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-andy-burnham","tag-chris-bryant","tag-emma-little-pengelly","tag-gavin-robinson","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jon-boutcher","tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","tag-michelle-o-neill","tag-news","tag-orange-order","tag-parades-commission","tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670363","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=670363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}