Level of Opposition to Loyalist March Underestimated

national | miscellaneous | press release Saturday February 25, 2006 18:11 by Des Dalton. - Vice President. - Republican Sinn Féin saoirse at iol dot ie

Statement by Republican Sinn Féin Vice-President Des Dalton

Statement by Republican Sinn Féin Vice-President Des Dalton – February 25th on riots in Dublin

The scenes witnessed in Dublin today only serve to illustrate how out of touch the 26-County political establishment was with the depth of opposition to the routing of a loyalist march through Dublin.

Indeed 26-County Justice Minister Michael McDowell's willingness to meet with the organisers of this march while at the same time refusing to meet with the relatives of those killed in the British-directed loyalist Dublin and Monaghan bombs or the relatives of the Stardust tragedy, only serves to further highlight the gulf that exists between the 26-County political establishment and the views of ordinary Irish people.

The people of Dublin have shown their rejection of the ideology of sectarian hatred and bigotry represented by those who organised this march. The routing of such a march through Dublin was a completely irresponsible act with scant thought given to the consequences or the dangers it posed to people.

ENDS.