A 'protest flotilla' will sail down Dublin's River Liffey next Thursday as part Sinn Féin protests on both sides of the border against the postponement of the Stormont Assembly elections.
As Northern Ireland's politicians prepare to seek compensation for the cancellation of the May 29th poll, Sinn Féin has announced plans for pickets in 30 cities and towns throughout the island.
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Confirming two large scale rallies are planned on the day the vote should have been held outside Belfast City Hall and the British Embassy in Dublin, the party's chief negotiator in peace process Mr Martin McGuinness said: "The cancelling of the elections is wrong. It is undemocratic.
"It is disenfranchising the people of the Six Counties. And it was taken against the wishes of those representing the majority of the electorate in the North and the Irish Government."
Sinn Féin Assembly candidates will hand in letters of protest on May 29th to electoral offices in Belfast, Derry, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Omagh and Glengormley.
City centre protests have also been planned for Belfast, Omagh, Enniskillen, Lurgan and Derry, with white line pickets in Belfast, Toomebridge, Strabane, Downpatrick, the Craigavon Bridge in Derry, Lurgan, Clough and Ballygawley.
In the Republic, members of Sinn Féin's youth wing will mount the protests on Sunday by lobbying the monthly meeting of Donegal County Council. Former Sinn Féin Assembly members will stage their own picket outside the Dáil on May 28th.
A protest flotilla will sail down the River Liffey in Dublin on May 29th, with white-line pickets taking place on major thoroughfares throughout the city. There will also be protests in Cork city and county, Galway city and county, Ballina, Westport, Sligo, Letterkenny, Drogheda, Dundalk, Kilkenny city, Carlow, Naas, Mullingar, Wexford, Enniscorthy, Waterford, Tralee and Bray.
Mr McGuinness called on Sinn Féin supporters to turn out in support of the right to vote. He alleged the British government shelved the elections because it felt the outcome would not "suit their gameplan".
PA