GARVAGHY ROAD RESIDENTS COALITION
Portadown
Co. Armagh, Ireland
Phone/Fax: Int.Code +44 (0)1762 392898
E-Mail Garvaghy @ aol.com
00:30 Local Time
In a live BBC radio interview tonight, another member of the Residents Coalition was cut off and censored. The Coalition member was telling the story of a former Protestant neighbour who lived next door to her here in the Garvaghy Road. In 1996 he marched up to the church with his fellow Orangemen, but when the parade was forced through, he realized the sensitivities of his Nationalist neighbours at that time, and he refused to march down the road.
In case his home and business were threatened, Catholic residents stayed up all night guarding his home from danger. Once when his mechanic garage was burned, his Catholic neighbours held a fundraiser in a local Catholic social club to raise money to rebuild it. He later moved from the area, to the sadness of his neighbours who had invested themselves in helping him and his family, and had enjoyed friendships with them. But today, the same man gave an interview to the BBC on the tv from the Drumcree fields, saying he would stay with the standoff until the march went through, showing how his deeper involvement with the Orange Order has compromised his former understanding. The Coalition member tried to explain how it hurt her heart to see how he had taken a turn from his previous understanding and relationships. She was interrupted three times, and finally cut off mid-sentence.
Having seen him on the television earlier in the day, a resident and former neighbor of his was shocked to see his
belligerent stance. She was saddened by the turn of events, and she phoned the BBC, and asked to tell the story of his Catholic neighbours. The BBC would not discuss it with her or give the opportunity for her to give a resident’s point of view of the situation.
Later tonight, when the member of the Coalition spoke in the live interview, not knowing the earlier conversation had taken place between the BBC and the other resident, began to tell the same story of seeing her former neighbor standing with the Orangemen, she faced a wall of resistance from the media. Blatant censorship of the residents continues, as well as obvious attempts to discredit the residents and their representatives.