by BILL HEANEY
A High Court judge banned members of the Orange Order from parading down the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Northern Ireland – a notorious parading flashpoint during the Troubles – for the first time since the late 1990s.
The ban was lifted in the middle of the night, but the parade, watered down by restrictions and limited to just 35 marchers, still did not take place.
The nationalists blocked the route in three places (see picture above), and the Orangemen returned to shelter at Drumcree Church, from which they had come to start walking at 8 am.
Heavy rain poured down while police and politicians discussed the legality of the situation, which was still ongoing at lunchtime.
Yesterday, at a time when Police Scotland are in a recruitment crisis, 200 officers – men and women – sailed to Belfast today to police the march, which up to 5000 angry Orangemen and women were expected to march in to march if the ban was allowed to stand.
On Friday, the Parades Commission determined that the proposed march would be permitted to go ahead with several restrictions, including an 8 am start time on Sunday and limiting it to 35 participants.
One restriction was that the Portadown District of the Orange Order application proposed 60 Orange Order members take part in the procession. Still, this number was reduced to 35.
The long-running dispute centres on Orange Order parades between Portadown town centre and Drumcree Church, with the return route passing along the Garvaghy Road.
A High Court judge in Belfast passed a temporary injunction against a Parades Commission decision allowing the Orange Order to march down the Garvaghy Road.
Justice Patricia Smyth also passed an injunction suspending the Portadown District Loyal Orange Lodge’s notification to the Parades Commission.
The Orange Order appealed against the High Court ruling, but that was vetoed.
And then around 2.30 am today there was a decision to allow it to go ahead.
“Threats of violence will not achieve your outcome”
DUP MP Carla Lockhart told reporters: “The media reporting that there will be no march tomorrow on the Garvaghy Road is a little premature because we still have the Court of Appeal.
“What we’ve seen from the other side is threats, intimidation, harassment – and the behaviour outside this court today just demonstrates to all unionists and grassroots loyalists how we would be treated in this new fanciful Ireland.
“So the balaclava really has slipped about Sinn Féin and the mob that is trying to rule in Northern Ireland.
“Threats of violence will not achieve your outcome. The rule of law is what we stand for, and we will adhere to it.”
She pleaded with members of the Orange and Unionist community “not to take to the streets” or get involved in disorder.
Prominent Orangeman Jamie Bryson told reporters: “Today, and throughout this process, Unionism and Loyalism and the Portadown District have conducted themselves impeccably. The behaviour of Nationalism and Sinn Féin has been absolutely appalling. What we have seen is threats of disorder, of mobilisation and the mob gathering.
“Myself and two female members of the DUP went out to get some lunch, and they were hounded, harassed and intimidated.”
Jamie Bryson also called on “everybody in Northern Ireland” to “be peaceful” and to “be lawful”.
However, that is unlikely to happen, and Police Scotland and the NIPS (Northern Ireland Police Service) are still standing by for trouble which may still be forthcoming.
She said: “The SDLP stands in full support of the residents alongside so many people across Northern Ireland, and we welcome the injunction granted by the judge, which prevents the parade from taking place tomorrow.
“Nobody should pretend this is as simple as 35 people walking down a road. Drumcree carries a history and a meaning that cannot be ignored. Insisting on passing through a community that has consistently and rightly opposed this parade returns us to the old territorial politics of provocation and domination that caused so much damage here.
“To the residents, I want to say to them, I am so sorry that you have been placed in the eye of this storm, caught between the drag of some bad faith actors that seem addicted to reopening the hurt and the traumas of the past. We should never take peace for granted, and as political leaders, we should never allow the circumstances that could lead us there to take hold.
“And to those of a unionist background or belief, who are appalled or scared too about being taken backwards – many of whom have been in touch – you deserve better than this, in a future that is filled with hope and optimism, not fear and division.
“I welcome that the heat has been taken out of this difficult episode. Lighting the tinder is easy; putting the fire out is much harder, and as political leaders, I am urging those in positions of power to be mindful of this in the hours and days ahead.”
Top of page: Residents formed several roadblocks on Garvaghy Road after the authorities decided to allow an Orange march in Portadown, Northern Ireland.