Northern Ireland
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

In recent days, there have been attempts to smear the good people of the Garvaghy Road as a mob. It brings to mind what James Connolly wrote about the concept of the mob, as in ordinary people. He wrote that the period where the mob had no power "was the blackest period in human history". He described the mob as a humanising civilising force and finished with the call of "All hail, then, to the mob, the incarnation of progress!" I had the pleasure of standing with this so-called mob over the weekend. They were the most welcoming, disciplined, steadfast and determined community you can imagine. It was these people - the over 1,000 people - who stood throughout the night while the rain came down who held the line against sectarianism. It was them and not the institutions, not the Parades Commission, which incredibly said that this sectarian, triumphalist march connected with murder should be allowed to proceed, and not the courts that upheld that decision. It was the people who held the line and stopped this opening up of a nightmare scenario, not just for the people in Portadown but for communities right across the North.
Has the Taoiseach communicated clearly to Prime Minister Burnham that this Orange Order march simply cannot proceed? That is the solution. The march needs to be stopped.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29