A PROTEST in Belfast on Saturday against the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus lockdown failed to get off the ground after just a small number of people turned up.
A flyer circulated on social media last week by a group calling itself the 'UK Freedom Movement' urged people to assemble at venues across the UK on Saturday to show opposition to what it described as "the unlawful lockdown".
A tiny group - thought to be somewhere between a dozen and two dozen overall - congregated in the Ormeau Park in south Belfast, while there appeared to be no protest at all at another planned venue, Millenium Park in Clarawood in the east of the city.
Indeed protesters at Ormeau Park were seemingly outnumbered by media and police observing proceedings.
The flyer advertising the protest had said: "We say no to the coronavirus bill, no to mandatory vaccines, no to the new normal and no to the unlawful lockdown."
Videos on social media showed several protestors sharing theories about the legitimacy of the current lockdown guidance and remonstrating with police, with one woman stating that people were there to "exercise their freedom of speech".
The protest in Ormeau Park dispersed after around an hour and no arrests were made.
The staging of the protest in Belfast had been criticised by elected representatives, while the PSNI said it "strongly advised against" people attending, citing the need to "respect current guidance and regulations".
Gatherings which attracted varying numbers were also held in various other UK cities.
In London, Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy, was led away in handcuffs by police after reportedly failing to leave when asked and declining to give his details to officers.
He used a megaphone to describe the coronavirus as a "pack of lies to brainwash you and keep you in order" and vaccinations as "not necessary".
