NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Trevor Ringland, has stated that “thuggery and violence has no part in political protest or debate, no matter who it is aimed at”. He made his comments after the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Máirtin Ó Muilleoir, was pushed and shoved during an event to open a children’s park in North Belfast.
“There should be no doubt that the type of scenes which occurred at Woodvale Park, with Mr O’Muilleoir and police officers being manhandled and forced to leave the area, are simply not acceptable”, Ringland said. “Of course the Lord Mayor’s party, Sinn Féin, has acted in an extremely divisive way, both in Belfast and elsewhere and they should be challenged, but the way to do that is through debate and politics, not through disrespect for an office which represents everyone in the city.”
“There’s simply no excuse for anyone to be equivocal about violent or unlawful protests, whoever instigates them and whoever they are aimed at. If the people who acted in this way think they are protecting the Union, they are very much mistaken. This type of activity undermines attempts to widen support for Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom more than any amount of politicking by Sinn Féin, as does the outright failure of DUP politicians to condemn the misbehaviour.”