SDLP Justice Spokesperson Patsy McGlone MLA has called for the full policing costs associated with the Orange Order’s attempt to parade down Garvaghy Road to be made public, including the cost of bringing in 200 additional police officers from Scotland.
Mr McGlone raised the issue with Justice Minister Naomi Long during Assembly Question Time. He also questioned what other policing priorities could have benefited from the money and resources required for the operation.
Patsy McGlone MLA said, “The scale of the policing operation speaks for itself. Bringing 200 officers across from Scotland, on top of the PSNI resources already committed, is an extraordinary requirement given the demands already facing our police service.
“The people of Garvaghy Road live their lives on this road. They work there, their children go to school there and they are entitled to go about their daily lives without disruption. The Orange Order has other options, and it should reflect seriously on the impact that pursuing this particular route has on those who live there and on the public resources required as a result.
“I also asked the Minister to outline where else those resources could have been directed because that is a question people are entitled to have answered. We have communities looking for more police on the ground, victims waiting for cases to progress and serious pressures around rural crime, drugs and antisocial behaviour. At a time when policing is under considerable strain, those choices matter.
“But this isn’t just about the financial cost. There is also a wider cost to our society from reopening a painful period in our history that many people have worked hard to move beyond. The full policing cost should be published, but we should also reflect on the disruption caused, the impact on the Garvaghy Road community and the wider consequences of allowing old divisions to come to the fore again.”
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