Saturday’s scenes in Scarva during the Great March for Gaza sparked a heated and highly charged exchange in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday, with MLAs trading accusations over masked men, racist and sectarian abuse, and the role of elected representatives on the ground.
The Great March for Gaza, which began in Lurgan and ended in Omeath, passed through Scarva on Saturday where it came upon an organised counter‑protest.
Video and images from the village have since circulated widely online, showing slurry on the road, masked individuals and tense stand‑offs.
In the Assembly, Sinn Féin, the DUP and the SDLP clashed over what happened and how it has been portrayed.
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew told MLAs that what he described as “masked men seeking to intimidate a peaceful march” were present in Scarva and claimed DUP MP Carla Lockhart was “standing shoulder to shoulder with them”.
“The spraying of slurry on the roads of Scarva is darkly reminiscent of a previous era when civil rights protesters were spread with slurry on the streets of Dungannon,” he said.
“Attempts by the DUP to deflect are pathetic, and people see through them and see them for what they are. Again, we see the DUP standing on the wrong side, determined to drag us all back to the past, rather than looking forward.
“I would urge all political representatives in this chamber to call these acts out for what they are: hatred, racism, and sectarianism. They belong to the past. Our job is to build a better future.”
DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley, who was present in Scarva on Saturday, launched a robust defence of local residents and unionist representatives, and criticised what he called “sofa” commentary on the events.
“I had elected representatives in this chamber and beyond talk about Scarva, who couldn’t even spell the word, talking about policing operations once they sat on their sofas scrolling through social media,” he told MLAs.
He said there had been “targeted attacks on democratically elected politicians from the DUP and other unionist parties who were on the streets in Scarva, ensuring that the rightful, lawful act of protest, which was registered with the Parades Commission, had its ability to do so”.
“That wasn’t good enough for some of the parties in this place,” he continued. “They have despicably targeted elected representatives, and in some cases vilified and demeaned lady representatives who were on the front line ensuring that there was peace and calm in Scarva.”
Mr Buckley said he had engaged with the Parades Commission, police and others “for this past year on the tensions rising from this parade”, which he claimed had gone “deliberately and provocatively” through areas where it was “not wanted”.
He pointed to banners and chants associated with Gaza solidarity marches, saying: “Last year, banners of Hamas, this year ‘from the river to the sea’ – that is the type of political connotations that go with this travelling circus, wherever it goes. We’ve seen the consequences in the United Kingdom, which these hate marches continue to push. Speaker, this cannot be allowed to continue.”
Describing the policing operation, he said: “I witnessed firsthand the events in Scarva. I saw the attempts by elected representatives to ensure there was restraint. A policing operation which would’ve seen police dogs, three water cannons, riot cops try to move in on democratic protesters who had the legitimate right to be there – if we did not intervene, that would have been a riot.”
He defended local people, insisting: “The people of Scarva are law‑abiding people… I will not stand for the decent, good people of Scarva and the surrounding areas to be pulled through the muck, to be called thugs by political opponents. They’re decent people, they’re law‑abiding people, and they deserve some respect.”
Mr Buckley accused other parties of “sneering” at unionist communities and pledged: “As for the Democratic Unionist Party, we will unashamedly stand up and intervene for the people that we represent, and no amount of sneering or degrade will ever allow us to ensure that their rights aren’t represented.”
SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole pressed Deputy First Minister Emma Little‑Pengelly on the scenes in Scarva, describing what he said had been visible in footage and photographs.
“Everybody knows what they saw in Scarva: racist and sectarian abuse hurled at a peaceful march. Toxic waste spread on a public road. Journalists intimidated and abused while doing their job, and one of your party’s MPs right in the middle, in a scrum of masked men,” he said.
“Given all that you have said about positively promoting Northern Ireland, creating a showcase for this region, aren’t you embarrassed?”
Responding, Ms Little‑Pengelly said the situation on the ground had been “incredibly challenging” and defended the role of DUP representatives, including Carla Lockhart.
“Elected representatives, including from the DUP, including the MP for Upper Bann, Carla Lockhart, stepped up, was in Scarva, trying to de‑escalate, liaising with the PSNI, trying to resolve issues before they gave rise to worse violence,” she said.
“That is leadership, that is not easy, and it, of course, is much, much easier for people to sit by the sidelines and criticise based on a handful of photographs if you were not there and you did not see what happened.”
She urged Mr O’Toole to listen to a statement made earlier by DUP MLA Diane Forsythe, saying: “The public representatives from the DUP were there to de‑escalate and to support a peaceful resolution at a peaceful protest.”
Mr O’Toole pressed the issue again, saying: “People saw what they saw with their own eyes. They didn’t see that MP de‑escalating; they saw a member of Parliament from your party right in the middle of a scrum of masked men – I repeat, masked men – shouting racist and sectarian abuse.
“Those images look like they were from a Paisley‑ite past that could have been Burntollet Bridge. It is shocking and unacceptable that you in this role cannot accept the gravity of those images. So, I repeat, Deputy First Minister, are you not ashamed of those images?”
The Deputy First Minister rejected his characterisation, accusing him of “spin”.
“I think it is shameful that you stand in this place, and that you spin on the basis of a handful of photographs when people are telling you what happened on the ground,” she said.
“The protest was happening, the situation was volatile. Elected representatives from the DUP, from the Ulster Unionist Party, from the TUV were on the ground, including Carla Lockhart, Diane Forsyth, Jonathan Buckley. They were there to de‑escalate the situation.
“The photograph that you saw… shows Carla Lockhart standing not on her own, but with a line of public representatives holding the line, calming things down. So it’s very easy for you to criticise, but I would say to you, shame on you… to try to use this volatile situation to politically point‑score when the elected representatives from the DUP were there on the ground trying to ensure that the protest remained peaceful.”
She added: “The DUP has always been more than clear: we stand against thuggery, we stand against paramilitaries, we stand against terrorism, and we stand for the rule of law. It wasn’t easy for the public representatives to be there on the ground in very difficult circumstances, but violence was avoided, and I say, well done to those who worked hard to ensure that that was the outcome.”
Sinn Féin MLA Sinéad Ennis later challenged the Deputy First Minister directly to condemn the masked individuals seen in Scarva.
“I think it’s disgraceful that you haven’t condemned what happened in Scarva on Saturday, so I’m going to give you another opportunity,” she said.
“Do you condemn the presence of masked men in the crowd in Scarva on Saturday, hurling the most extreme racist and sectarian abuse at peaceful protesters? And do you distance yourself from your party colleague, Carla Lockhart, who gave political cover to those masked men, and for her disgraceful and dangerous comments that what happened in Scarva could have ended in a bloodbath?”
Ms Little‑Pengelly rejected the suggestion that she had been unclear on her position.
“This is absolutely pathetic point‑scoring,” she replied.
“The reality is I have been absolutely clear on every single occasion. I absolutely, without reservation, stand against thuggery, stand against sectarianism, stand against racism, stand against paramilitarism, stand against terrorism.
“Unfortunately, you don’t have to look very far around you to find others that cannot be as clear as I am, but I will say this to the House: I will take no criticism that I have been in any way ambiguous about these situations. I condemn, without reservation, any criminality, any thuggery, any intimidation. Ask your colleagues, can they do the same?”
Earlier in the day, Carla Lockhart, speaking to Good Morning Ulster said police, on Saturday, made “a bad situation worse”.
“Protesters made their way to an area which was an unfinished development. The PSNI came in very heavy,” she said.
“I, along with my colleagues, had to intervene, had to de-escalate, had to negotiate with police, encourage the community and were able to keep what could have been an absolute bloodbath very quiet, peaceful and ultimately no incidents out of Saturday’s occasion.”
She described the allegation that she stood front and centre with masked men as “utter, utter rubbish”.
