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Anti-Brexit activists gathered outside City Hall in Belfast to protest against the suspension of UK Parliament.<\/p>\nAnti-Brexit activists gathered outside City Hall in Belfast to protest against the suspension of UK Parliament.<\/p>\n
Dozens of demonstrators chanted \u201cstop the coup\u201d while several activists addressed the crowd, condemning Boris Johnson\u2019s move.<\/p>\n
The diverse gathering included foreign nationals concerned about their status post-Brexit, and local people angered that the prorogation of UK Parliament comes at a time when the Stormont Assembly has been suspended for over two-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n
The event lasted a number of hours, with organizers urging demonstrators to stay as long as they could and spread word of the protest on social media.<\/p>\n
There was a low-key police presence, with officers monitoring the peaceful gathering.<\/p>\n
Brenda Gough, from west Belfast, was one of those who had promoted the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is we are supposed to live in a democracy, whether you voted Remain or Leave,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe no longer have democracy because elected representatives of the people of the UK have been told they will no longer be able to speak for their electorate.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people don\u2019t seem to understand that politicians work for us, they are there to represent our voices, and we understand what it is like not to have that in Northern Ireland because obviously Stormont has been shut down for two-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t about whether you Leave or whether you Remain, this is about the fact that this man [Boris Johnson] has told elected representatives that they can no longer do their job on behalf of the people who have elected them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that democracy has now been removed from our society is exceptionally sinister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susie Burlace, an English woman who has lived in Northern Ireland for six years, drew inspiration from Oscar Wilde with a placard stating: \u201cTo lose one government is a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness \u2013 or a coup.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cNormally I stay out of Northern Irish politics for fairly obvious reasons, I don\u2019t feel I have the right to a say on a lot of it, but this is far more than Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole country is now without a parliamentary voice. We have been here for quite a long time and to have two governments now suspended at a critical time in history is anti-democratic and I just feel we should do something about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brigitte Anton, who is originally from Frankfurt but who has lived in Belfast for 31 years, said the need to apply for settled status had turned her world \u201cupside down\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe have lived here as equal citizens as everyone else and now we have been pushed into this second class status and that\u2019s really, really scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
She drew parallels between the suspension of Parliament and Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a German I feel like I am living my grandparents\u2019 history because I find this really, really undemocratic, that this can just happen like that and nobody can do anything against it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a big con. It\u2019s nothing to do with the Queen\u2019s Speech. It is to prevent discussion about Brexit taking place properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what the Prime Minister is playing at but he is playing a very, very dangerous game \u2013 specifically here in Northern Ireland because the situation is volatile.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got completely out of hand. You are watching this and you feel like you are in a bad movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Londoner Rob Stead said he and his wife Jan had \u201cfled\u201d England to move to Northern Ireland because they were so dismayed by the Brexit vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very exercised by what\u2019s going on in Parliament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up as a middle class guy in England and identity was never a challenge to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I have realized since the Brexit vote is actually I feel very European.\u201d<\/p>\n