TROUBLES victims, Irish language activists and border communities were united in protesting Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to the North of Ireland today.
Mr Johnson visited Hillsborough Castle this afternoon, where he met the five main Stormont parties amid the DUP's blocking of a new Assembly and Executive.
It comes as the British government is set to announce legislation that would allow its Ministers to override parts of the Brexit deal. The move is a bid to appease the DUP, which refusing to enter government due to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Prime Minister's visit was met with protest from the Border Communities Against Brexit, Time for Truth, and An Dream Dearg campaigns.
Time for Truth campaigners voiced their opposition to British Government's plans to introduce an amnesty for all Troubles killings and crimes prior to 1998.
Harry Gargan, whose sister Margaret was amongst those killed in 1972 Springhill-Westrock Massacre, said the government's actions signalled the Prime Minster's will to "stay in power at all costs".
Protests ahead of Boris Johnson's visit Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.
"It doesn't matter who he stamps over, whether it's the DUP, whether it's us victims – he doesn't care as long as he's in power," he said. "The main thing that our family wants is a new inquest. That's basically all we want, so that people can hear exactly what happened that night.
"To stop inquests, to me, is criminal. It's just a search for truth. It's not about prosecutions. Our families just want the truth of what happened."
He added: "There's a lot of people here who need to know the truth of what happened and I think it should be a red line – no matter whether it was soldiers, civilians, republicans or loyalists, people deserve the truth."
Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh, from An Dream Dearg, led campaigners today in calling for the British Government to fulfil its commitment to implementing Irish language legislation.
He described the British Government's delay tactics as "incredibly frustrating".
"The Irish Language Act was originally committed to in 2006 (St Andrew's Agreement), after a commitment for resolute action to the language in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement," he said.
Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald, Michelle O'Neill and Conor Murphy arrive at Hillsborough for their meeting with the British Prime Minister Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press
"It has always been a cornerstone of our main political agreements here. When the Assembly and the Executive was re-established in January 2020 it was on the basis of an Irish Language Act. That didn't happen. It was to be time-bound within 100 days and unfortunately the DUP reneged on the commitments that they had given.
"In June 2021, the British Government gave an additional commitment that they would step in, as co-guarantors of those agreements, to bring forward an Irish Language Act. That didn't happen. They reneged on that agreement. They reneged on it publicly time and time again."
He said the Irish language community had "no reason to trust Boris Johnson".
"We've no reason to trust the Tories," he added.
"Public confidence in them is at an all-time low. We're here to say that we'll keep organising, we'll keep coming to the streets and demanding our rights."
Following Sinn Féin's meeting with the British Prime Minister, the party's vice-president Michelle O'Neill tweeted: "Tough meeting with the British Prime Minister. Many questions asked, no answers given. What’s clear is that there is a choreography designed to give cover to the DUP. Both standing in the way of an executive being formed to put money in the pockets of workers and families."
