An attempt on 17 June 1934 by Protestant Republican Congress members from Belfast to join in the commemoration march was prevented by IRA stewards. The marchers were stoned and "scuffles broke out". This was portrayed by some commentators as sectarianism, that republicans had abandoned Tone's aim to unite Irishmen by ignoring their religious differences, paying tribute only to his anti-British republicanism. However, Brian Hanley's history of the IRA from 1926 to 1936 concludes that the trouble arose because they were seen as "communist", and not for sectarian reasons.