{"id":523821,"date":"2026-06-08T00:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T00:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/523821\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T00:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T00:31:13","slug":"dup-mp-defends-photo-of-herself-with-masked-men-at-protest-against-palestine-rally-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/523821\/","title":{"rendered":"DUP MP defends photo of herself with masked men at protest against Palestine rally \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A DUP<\/a> MP has defended her actions following criticism after she was pictured standing with masked men during a counter-protest to a pro-Palestine march.<\/p>\n

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart received criticism from a number of political representatives including South Down MP Chris Hazzard of Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a>, Alliance Party<\/a> leader Naomi Long<\/a> and SDLP<\/a> leader Claire Hanna<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hundreds turned out in the Co Down village of Scarva on Saturday in opposition to the Great March for Gaza, organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign<\/a> (IPSC), which was due to pass by on the Newry towpath en route from Lurgan to Newry.<\/p>\n

There was a heavy police presence which focused on enforcing Parades Commission<\/a> conditions of keeping those joining the march from entering Scarva, and blocked off several bridges in the village.<\/p>\n

Police resources made available included water cannons and armoured Land Rovers, as well as TSG officers.<\/p>\n

\"AA pro-Palestinian march under protection of PSNI officers passes closes the village of Scarva, Co Down, as it heads from Lurgan to Newry. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Lockhart criticised the police presence, saying it caused disruption to local residents, did not reduce anxiety and tension, and blocked off Scarva Bridge, where the counter-demonstration had been planned to take place.<\/p>\n

A large number of protesters instead staged a demonstration further up the village close to a new housing development, and just across a narrow canal from the march.<\/p>\n

March organisers have contended they were faced with \u201cslurs hurled from an unnotified counter-protest in a field outside Scarva\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lockhart was photographed standing near masked individuals in Scarva as the march passed by.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, she said: \u201cI will never apologise for standing with my community. When tensions were high, leadership meant showing up, engaging constructively and helping ensure calm heads prevailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cReal leadership is not measured by social media posts after an event, but by being there when it matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n

DUP leader Gavin Robinson<\/a> backed Lockhart, describing her, along with South Down MLA Diane Forsythe<\/a> and Upper Bann MLA Jonathan Buckley, as \u201cproviding leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve stood on the ground in many riot situations,\u201d he said in a post on social media site X.<\/p>\n

\"AA large number of armoured vans with riot police separate counter-protesters from the pro-Palestinian march at Scarva, Co Down. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

\u201cMost people commenting haven\u2019t a clue what they\u2019re talking about. Carla, Diane, Jonathan and our councillors were in Scarva doing the hard thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t there for selfies or social media posts. They were there to provide leadership, keep calm heads and help ensure a difficult situation did not become a worse one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who were actually there know the role they played.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Down MP Chris Hazzard, of Sinn F\u00e9in, posted on X that his constituency \u201cis a welcoming place defined by beautiful forests, mountains, and beaches \u2013 not masked intimidation\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cNext time you visit @carlalockhart you should look into what our constituency actually has to offer, rather than standing with masked men intimidating women & children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockhart responded saying: \u201cIn the absence of their own MP I had to step in and ensure calm heads prevailed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added a claim that the family of William Heenan, a man murdered by the Provisional IRA<\/a> in 1985, \u201chave tried to engage with you about the murder of their Dad. They haven\u2019t found their MP so welcoming\u201d.<\/p>\n

Long put to Lockhart: \u201cThe crowd you were playing to were wearing masks and shouting abuse. You\u2019ve yet to condemn it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanna described images from Scarva as \u201cbleak and disturbing\u201d. \u201cTaunts at peaceful marchers, an MP surrounded by masked men in 2026,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical leaders who won\u2019t condemn bullying and intimidation, wherever it comes from, won\u2019t take society anywhere good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lockhart also hit back at criticism from Lagan Valley MP Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance) after she posted: \u201cStanding in a crowd with people covering faces with masks or scarves whilst the crowd shout obscenities and abuse is not something we should be anywhere near, never mind in the middle of.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have a role to play in providing positive leadership and this falls shockingly short of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockhart responded saying: \u201cPlaying to the crowd when you have none of the facts only serves as click bait. As an elected representative you should do better.\u201d \u2013 PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A DUP MP has defended her actions following criticism after she was pictured standing with masked men during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[76188,9,10,195740,226180,17927,4776,18,13,14,40332,6,19,17,66419,6439,11,12,15,16,69175,5,189567,47,39895,7,8],"class_list":["post-523821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alliance-party-of-northern-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-claire-hanna","tag-diane-forsythe","tag-down","tag-dup-links","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-gavin-robinson","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-palestine-solidarity-campaign","tag-irish-republican-army","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-naomi-long","tag-news","tag-parades-commission","tag-sinn-fein","tag-social-democratic-and-labour-party","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}