Questions have been raised over the deployment of Police Scotland officers to Northern Ireland during a highly contentious Orange Order parade in Portadown on Sunday.
Scottish Greens justice spokesperson Maggie Chapman has called on the Scottish Government to review the mutual aid arrangements reportedly used to send around 200 Scottish officers to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland during the operation.
The parade saw members of the Orange Order permitted to march along Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years following a weekend of legal challenges over whether it should be allowed to proceed.
The Parades Commission had permitted the procession subject to conditions, with the decision challenged by Garvaghy Road residents before ultimately being allowed to stand following late night court proceedings.
Thousands of protesters gathered on Garvaghy Road on Sunday and blocked the planned route, while a substantial policing operation was put in place.
Chapman wrote to Justice Secretary Neil Gray on Friday seeking details of the Scottish deployment, including how many officers were involved, what duties they would perform and who had requested and authorised their deployment.
She also asked what command, oversight and complaints arrangements would apply to Police Scotland officers operating in Northern Ireland.
Chapman said:
“It is deeply concerning that Police Scotland officers were deployed to support policing around a march that caused such fear and division.
“The Scottish Government must be transparent about what role Scottish officers played, what resources were committed, and whether they think this agreement is appropriate.
“Scotland should not be providing policing resources for sectarian events like this that are called to inflame tensions.
“The Scottish Government must review this agreement and ensure that Police Scotland officers are not deployed for events like this again.”
Her description of the parade and its purpose is a political position, while the Orange Order had previously described its proposed procession as dignified and non triumphalist.
The controversy surrounding Garvaghy Road stretches back decades, with the route at the centre of the Drumcree dispute and serious disorder during the 1990s.
Chapman is now asking the Scottish Government to identify the agreement and legal basis under which officers were deployed and to review whether existing arrangements provide sufficient scrutiny when Scottish officers are sent to highly contentious operations elsewhere in the UK.
She has also asked for clarification of the circumstances in which requests for assistance can be declined, restricted or withdrawn.
At the time the Scottish Greens issued their statement on Sunday, Chapman said she had not received a response from the Justice Secretary to the letter sent two days earlier.
