Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein faces police probe as protest tensions fester

Opposition unionists call for the prosecution of Sinn Fein lawmakers who participated in the protest.

Protesters hold banners as they gather on Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Northern Ireland, on September 27, 2026 [Charles McQuillan/Getty Images]

Northern Irish police have contacted representatives of Sinn Fein in an investigation into a protest that blocked a Protestant parade from marching through a Catholic area, the party said.

The Sinn Fein party leads Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government alongside its main pro-British rival, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has called for Sinn Fein lawmakers to be prosecuted.

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In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday, Sinn Fein confirmed “that a number of its representatives and party members received correspondence” from police.

“Sinn Fein will continue to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents who should be allowed to live in peace and free from sectarian intimidation,” the party said in the statement.

It added they have “stood with 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”.

Northern Ireland’s High Court permitted the Protestant Orange Order to march on the Catholic Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years.

Police opened an investigation into what they called the unlawful protest of the march, and said people reasonably suspected of committing offences will receive letters for interviews.

Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald participated in the protests.

The DUP called for O’Neill and other lawmakers to be prosecuted.

“A political title is not a shield, and no one is above the law,” the party said in a statement on Thursday.

Before the Good Friday Agreement was signed, annual attempts by the Orange Order to march through the area triggered unrest across the British-run region until the route was banned in 1998.

The standoff has become a political crisis in Northern Ireland, affecting the region’s power-sharing government.

反对派工会成员呼吁起诉参与抗议活动的新芬党议员。

2026年9月27日，抗议者聚集在北爱尔兰波塔当的加瓦吉路，举着横幅。[查尔斯·麦奎兰/盖蒂图片社]

新芬党表示，北爱尔兰警方已就一起抗议事件与该党代表取得联系，该抗议事件阻止了一支新教徒游行队伍穿过天主教徒聚居区。

新芬党与主要亲英对手民主统一党（DUP）共同领导北爱尔兰的权力分享政府，后者呼吁对新芬党议员提起诉讼。

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新芬党周四在Facebook上发表声明，证实“其多名代表和党员收到了警方的来信”。

“新芬党将继续与加瓦吉路居民站在一起，他们应该被允许和平生活，免受宗派恐吓，”该党在声明中表示。

声明还补充说，在过去两周里，面对挑衅和不受欢迎的橙色游行穿过他们社区的威胁，他们一直与加瓦吉路的居民站在一起。

北爱尔兰高等法院允许新教橙带会在天主教徒聚集的加瓦吉路上举行游行，这是该组织 28 年来首次在该路段游行。

警方已对此次他们称之为非法抗议的游行展开调查，并表示将向有合理理由怀疑犯有罪行的人发出约谈通知。

新芬党首席部长米歇尔·奥尼尔和新芬党主席玛丽·卢·麦克唐纳参加了抗议活动。

民主统一党呼吁对奥尼尔和其他议员提起诉讼。

该党周四在一份声明中表示：“政治头衔不是挡箭牌，没有人可以凌驾于法律之上。”

在《贝尔法斯特协议》（又称《耶稣受难日协议》）签署之前，奥兰治教团每年试图游行穿过该地区，引发了英国统治下的整个地区的动荡，直到 1998 年该路线被禁止。

这场对峙已演变为北爱尔兰的政治危机，影响到该地区的权力分享政府。