Aontú leader to be interviewed by PSNI over protest

Updated / Tuesday, 3 Nov 2026 15:36

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said he has received a summons from the PSNI over his role at the Garvaghy Road protest in Portadown last month.

The demonstration on the predominantly nationalist road was staged amid efforts to prevent an Orange Order parade passing down the route from nearby Drumcree Church.

Speaking otuside Leinster House, Mr Tóibín said he will be meeting the PSNI in Belfast on Friday morning at 11am.

Members of Sinn Féin and People before Profit-Solidarity have already been interviewed by police officers investigating their participation in the protest.

Mr Tóibín called this a "monumental" waste of the PSNI and elected representatives' time "to go through the charade of these meetings".

He called it a "serious waste of time and money".

Mr Tóibín said the two governments "did not do their duty" to protect the Good Friday Agreement.

He also accused Taoiseach Micheál Martin of "standing idly by".

"It does not make sense at all that we have to go through this charade," he said.

He reiterated that it is a "serious waste of time and money".

A Parades Commission decision to allow the Orange Order parade to proceed down the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years prompted a two-week stand-off at the site of what was a notorious parading flashpoint during the Troubles.

The parade was ultimately unable to take place because of significant numbers of protesters on the Garvaghy Road, leading Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant to overturn the commission's decision and ban the procession.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has previously made it clear there would be "consequences" for those found to have broken the law.