The street had not been completely blocked as I could see emergency services vehicles passing by during the sit down protest and civil disobedience, first a fire brigade vehicle and after an ambulance, this means that the street was open to emergency vehicles at all times so we were not in breach of any law. I was there from the beginning to the end and I didn’t see any protester reacting with violence to the riot police aggression and arrests, no one did throw objects or attacked the police in any manner. It was a truly peaceful demonstration. When riot police started arresting white overalls playing instruments, more people started playing pans and clapping, when they hit and arrested people sitting down more people took their places, chanting “this is a peaceful protest”. After a while the police retreated leaving the protesters to continue with their civil disobedience and protest, something unheard of in Belfast. It did cost us: 17 people arrested including a blind man and several others beaten up, but at the end it was the police who backed down not the protesters who stayed firm in their legal and moral right to be there.