Hundreds gather for dissident republican Easter parade

Several hundred people, including some in combat uniforms and wearing face coverings, have taken part in a dissident republican Easter commemoration in Londonderry.

The parade from Creggan to the city cemetery on Monday was led by 18 people in paramilitary-style uniforms, in direct contravention of a ruling by the Parades Commission.

The event to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising was organised by the political party Saoradh, which the police has previously linked to the New IRA.

Ch Supt Gillian Kearney said a live investigation is ongoing.

Police said a car was set on fire on Central Drive in Creggan.

This year, the Saoradh national committee said it would be accompanied by one flute band and 500 participants and supporters.

It stopped briefly for a man in paramilitary-style uniform to lay a wreath at the republican monument in Creggan.

When the parade reached the cemetery, about a dozen masked young people were seen with petrol bombs.

The Parades Commission said no paramilitary-style clothing should be worn or illegal flags displayed.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a number of participants were observed to be wearing paramilitary-style uniforms, which it believed to be an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a breach of the Parades Commission determination.

In 2025 violence flared following a similar parade, with rioters throwing about 50 petrol bombs at the police near the city walls.

Speaking to The Nolan Show, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows said "there has to be a fundamental rethink of how we deal with these dissident republican parades".

"These people disobey the law flagrantly every year, and I do think there needs to be a strategic rethink as to how we can bring an end to what is one of the legacy pieces around ongoing criminality at Easter," he said.

He said police should not "steam in", but instead could "swoop in on the colour party on the spot".

"In the days and weeks ahead we need to see arrests being made, justice being seen to be being delivered and then we need to make sure there is a plan in place to prevent this happening again next year," he said.