News Story

The issue of Orange Order marches on the Garvaghy Road is “closed”, the First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said.

Ms O’Neill said residents living along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown had been subjected to a “direct provocation” after the Orange Order announced that it had made an application for a “limited” parade on the route.

The issue was the first topic discussed by MLAs when the Stormont assembly reconvened after recess.

The Parades Commission will have to rule on the latest application for 60 order members to take part in the proposed Drumcree parade on Sunday September 27.

The commission, which adjudicates on contentious parades in Northern Ireland, was heavily criticised by unionist politicians and the Orange Order after a High Court ruling last month that quashed its most recent determination over the Drumcree parade.

The Parades Commission has blocked the order from marching along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown in July every year since 1998.

Unionist politicians have called for the resignation of the commissioners, including chairwoman Professor Evelyn Collins, after the ruling.

One commissioner, Billy Gamble, who had attracted criticism, has resigned but the chairwoman has remained in post.

Ms O’Neill told reporters that the residents of the Garvaghy Road have “made their position very clear”.

“This issue is closed,” she said.

“I refer to this as provocation, this is provocation on behalf of the Orange Order and political unionism.

“Why do they want to ramrod a march down a nationalist area? Why do they want a reopen a sore that was closed 28 years ago? There’s no reasonable thinking out there who thinks that this is a good idea.

“The people of the Garvaghy Road deserve to live without fear or intimidation. What’s been put upon them over recent weeks, is a direct provocation, is a way in which to try to extend fear and hate back into a situation that was settled 28 years ago.

She added: “We continue to be engaged with the people in the Garvaghy Road, and they are anxious about what is being proposed, and rightly so, but I think we stand full square with them. This issue has been settled.

“Why does anyone want to revisit 28 years ago, where 21 people lost their lives during this period, where it was a time filled with fear and hate?

“I referred to the three Quinn children in the last number of weeks.

“That’s what I think of whenever I think about the Garvaghy Road and all the other deaths that happened at that time.

“No one wants us to go backwards, so I think that I think the residents have to be crystal clear, and we support the residents in their call and this issue is not to be revisited.”

Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant has ordered a judge-led review into how the Parades Commission makes its decisions.

Sinn Féin Minister and Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd said the people of Garvaghy Road “do not want this march forced through their area”.

“It is a march steeped in a history of hate, sectarian violence, and murder,” he said.

“The Garvaghy Road residents deserve to live in peace and to be able to get on with their lives, without this shadow of intimidation and fear hanging over them. Their wishes must be respected.

“28 years of peace is not a problem that requires a solution. It is this progress that needs protection.”

The stand-off at Drumcree made headlines in the 1990s, with nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road resolutely opposed to the parade passing through the area, leading to violent clashes for several summers and political tension necessitating a major security operation.

The Orange Order has unsuccessfully applied for more than a quarter of a century to complete its 1998 walk along its traditional route.

Unionist politicians have argued that the rights of the order members have been denied by the commission.