The PSNI interview with Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín over his presence at the Garvaghy Road protest in Portadown has been postponed after he asked that it be conducted through the Irish language, RTÉ reported. The interview was due to take place on Friday in Belfast, but Tóibín said it is now being rearranged for a later date, once an Irish-speaking interview team is available.
The postponement is the latest development in a police investigation into a protest that blocked an Orange Order parade from marching down the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road in September. Tóibín received a summons from the PSNI earlier this week. Members of Sinn Féin and People Before Profit-Solidarity have already been interviewed by officers investigating participation in the demonstration.
RTÉ describes the interview as one under caution. The Irish Independent, reporting the same summons, describes it as a voluntary interview at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast, and notes that Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister Michelle O’Neill attended voluntary interviews on the same issue. The two outlets do not agree on the interview’s legal status.
Tóibín calls investigation a “monumental” waste of time
Tóibín has said he will cooperate fully with the PSNI and answer any questions, but he called the process a “monumental” waste of the police and elected representatives’ time “to go through the charade of these meetings,” and a “serious waste of time and money.” The Irish Independent reports him describing the situation as a “charade of discussions with the PSNI” and blaming both governments for “a lack of responsibility… in terms of holding the peace in the North.”
September parade permission triggered a two-week stand-off
The protest took place amid efforts to prevent an Orange Order parade from Drumcree Church passing down the Garvaghy Road. In late September, the Parades Commission granted permission for the march to proceed down the road for the first time in almost 30 years, prompting a standoff at what was a notorious parading flashpoint during the Troubles. Thousands of protesters blocked the route, and the parade was ultimately unable to take place. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant then overturned the commission’s decision and banned the procession after police said they could not facilitate it. A legal challenge by the Orange Order against the ban was later dismissed by the High Court.
Police operation cost £5.5 million and was “not hostage” to threats
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told the Policing Board that the security operation during the dispute cost £5.5 million, The Irish News reported. He said the operation was “not hostage to any threats” from any proscribed organisation, after court proceedings referenced intelligence about firearms being brought into the area by dissident republicans. Boutcher also clarified that a reference in police evidence to “the feelings of the Provisional IRA” should have read the organisation’s “position or stance,” and said the Provisional IRA remains a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000, with its last formal public assessment in 2015 reaffirmed in 2024. Boutcher has previously made clear there would be “consequences” for those found to have broken the law at the protest.
Questions readers are asking about the Garvaghy Road investigation
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant banned the Orange Order parade from the Garvaghy Road after protesters blocked the route. The Parades Commission granted permission in late September for the first time in nearly 30 years, but thousands of protesters blocked the route, and police told Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant they could not facilitate the march. Bryant overturned the commission’s decision, and the High Court later dismissed the Orange Order’s legal challenge.
Who else has been interviewed by police? Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister Michelle O’Neill attended voluntary interviews with the PSNI on the same issue, according to the Irish Independent, as did members of People Before Profit-Solidarity.
No new date has been given. Tóibín said the interview is being rearranged for a later time when an Irish-speaking PSNI interview team is available.
Boutcher has said there will be consequences for lawbreaking, but no decision on prosecutions has been announced, and Tóibín’s interview has yet to take place.