Thousands of protesters blocked Portadown’s Garvaghy Road on Sunday, successfully halting a contentious Orange Order march that had been cleared to proceed earlier that morning following late-night High Court rulings. The standoff brought First Minister Michelle O’Neill to the barricades as national leaders appealed for calm.
The scheduled 8 a.m. start from Drumcree Church in Northern Ireland never materialized as people wearing balaclavas filled the road to prevent the Protestant procession from entering the mainly Catholic district. Police vans parked along the route broadcast recorded warnings that anyone participating in the blockade was committing a criminal offence, while officers from British police forces were brought in under mutual aid arrangements to support the large security operation.
The Drumcree parade, which in the 1990s sparked some of the most serious disorder in Northern Ireland’s history, was due to go ahead for the first time in 30 years following a series of late legal challenges.
Annual attempts by the Protestant Orange Order to march through the area triggered unrest across the British-run region before the route was banned in 1998, the same year the Good Friday Agreement largely ended the three decades of violence known as the “Troubles”.
The parade by Portadown District Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1 had been scheduled to leave Drumcree Church at 8 a.m. By that hour the road was filled with people, many wearing balaclavas against the rain and the cameras, standing in clusters that stretched along the route.
Political Leaders and Protestors Clash at the Barricades
Protesters disperse after blocking controversial Orange Order parade
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald joined the crowds standing in the heavy rain.
McDonald said residents were dignified and united and would not be drawn back into the past, and she called on the Northern Ireland secretary and the chief constable to intervene and stop the parade.
O’Neill stated that reviving the Drumcree dispute brought into question how the peace process was meant to work, noting she had spoken overnight with the British minister responsible for the region and the Irish government.
Donegal Sinn Féin TDs Pearse Doherty and Padraig MacLochlainn were also among the demonstrators.
Speaking from the protest, Deputy MacLochlainn told the Donegal News those lining the road will stay there for as long as it takes.
Protesters Block First Orange March on Garvaghy Road in
MacLochlainn added that essentially, the situation is that the community will not accept this and nationalists will be standing with them. He also noted that they don’t know at this point whether they are going to try and ram it through and that they have sent forward negotiators but the community here is absolutely resolute.
Meanwhile, members of the Orange Order and Democratic Unionist Party politicians gathered about a mile away, waiting for the road to clear.
Portadown District Master Nigel Dawson, from the order, said Orangemen would wait until police tell them the road is clear to march down, insisting the Order would complete our 1998 parade, which we set out this morning to do.
Police Assessment and International Reactions
Officers deployed a helicopter as part of a large security operation that included extra personnel from Britain. Crowds had gathered on the nationalist road ahead of the scheduled 8am start, creating a standoff that police assessed they could not safely clear in time for the notified route to be used.
Police have told Orange Order members they cannot facilitate a planned march along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road after protesters blocked the route. The restricted parade of 35 participants had been cleared to proceed early Sunday following late-night court rulings that upheld a Parades Commission decision allowing the first such procession in nearly three decades.
Protesters block Orange Order from marching through Catholic area
The Orange Order stated that enforcing the lawful determination now rests with police and is awaiting further operational direction.
Community Resolve and the Next Steps
Most of the protesters have since dispersed, but some members of the Orange Order remain.
Addressing protesters as they cleared the area on Sunday night, Breandán Mac Cionnaith from the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition said their goal now was to make sure we stop them permanantly.
Mac Cionnaith added that they will meet the chief constable and the Northern Ireland secretary on Monday, where he will tell them we’ve no intention of ever going back. He also asked some residents to remain on the streets, saying he thinks the stand-off is going to drag on for a while.
Late on Sunday night, the Orange Order’s Portadown deputy district master said he was disappointed and frustrated by what he called a lack of a proper policing plan to allow the march to go ahead.
