Politicians receive letters from PSNI over standing with Garvaghy Road residents

The PSNI have said they would be sending letters to people suspected of committing criminal offences regarding the ongoing standoff.

On Orange Order march was due to pass through the largely nationalist area on Sunday 27 September, after receiving permission from the Parades Commission. 

• Explained: Everything you need to know about the Garvaghy Road standoff

The protest blocking the road is ongoing. 

A number of high-profile politicians, including Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald, aswell as TDs like Social Democrat Sinead Gibney and People Before Profit's Paul Murphy have attended the protest, which the PSNI has said is unlawful. 

Letters signed by hundreds of celebrities and local Protestant people have been submitted in support of the residents.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Sinn Féin said a number of representatives and party members have received correspondence from police in relation to protests on the Garvaghy Road.

It said the party “stood with the residents of the Garvaghy Road for the last two weeks in the face of provocation and the threat of an unwanted Orange march through their community”.

“Standing up for what is right is always the right thing to do,” the statement continued.

Sinn Féin will continue to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents who should be allowed to live in peace and free from sectarian intimidation.

Meanwhile, People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said he has been invited to attend a voluntary interview under caution in connection with protests on Garvaghy Road.

In a statement, Carroll said he will be seeking the advice of his solicitor.

“I make no apology for standing with the residents of the Garvaghy Road,” he said.

“For almost three decades, this community has said no to a sectarian march being forced past their homes. When ordinary people peacefully stand together to defend their community, that is not criminality.

“It is the same civil disobedience that won every gain working-class people have ever made, from the suffragettes to the civil rights movement to the right to strike.”