UpperBann SinnFéin

02/09/2026

01/09/2026

Responding to the British Secretary of State's announcement that he has ordered an independent review of Parades Commission, Sinn Féin councillor Catherine Nelson said:

“The issue of an unwanted march on Garvaghy Road is closed.

“In previous years, the people of Garvaghy Road were subjected to sectarianism, intimidation, and violence as marches were forced through their community.

“That cannot and will not be allowed to happen again.

“The residents of Garvaghy Road have the right to live in peace, free from sectarian harassment. That right must be respected.

“Sinn Féin stands fully with the Garvaghy Road residents.

“What we have witnessed over the past week is a dangerous attempt by unionism to reignite the closed issue of an unwanted march on the Garvaghy Road.

“The British government is now choosing to indulge the dangerous and reckless actions of unionist leaders, by announcing today’s review of the Parades Commission.

“The British government should be ensuring that the right to live free from sectarianism is protected, rather than pandering to unionist supremacist demands.

“This is an unwanted march which cannot be imposed on this community or forced through it.

“Unionist leaders and the Orange Order need to respect the wishes of the people of Garvaghy Road and leave them to live in peace.”

31/08/2026

It is long past time for political unionism to recognise that, just as a Republican parade application for Markethill, Comber or the Shankill Road would be totally unacceptable to those communities, the same applies to the people of the Garvaghy Road.

Orange culture and parading are important parts of our neighbours’ identity. I accept and respect that. But respect for your neighbour must mean more than expecting them to accept something they fundamentally oppose and have experienced the worst excesses of.

I want the next generation to inherit the peace we fought hard to build, not the divisions we spent so long overcoming. - Cllr Catherine Nelson.

Read her full article in the Belfast telegraph from the link below 👇

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/an-error-in-process-does-not-mean-we-should-return-to-a-dispute-that-has-been-absent-for-nearly-three-decades/a/160713638.html

30/08/2026