parade

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has said he will ban the contentious Orange Order parade at Drumcree.

The dispute has led to a stand-off between Orangemen and nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown lasting almost two weeks.

Sir Chris said the chief constable advised him “it would not be possible to enable the procession to happen without a major intervention which would carry an unacceptable risk of serious injury, disorder and a wider contagion effect across Northern Ireland”.

His decision has been welcomed by Sinn Féin and the SDLP, but DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he now needs to “explain what his government intends to do to restore confidence in the rule of law”.

The move comes on the 13th day of deadlock between residents and the local district lodge of the Orange Order.

The Parades Commission had ruled that the march, on Sunday 27 September, could go ahead with restrictions in place.

But the parade, from Drumcree Church into Portadown, did not happen due to a large protest on the Garvaghy Road.

Under legislation, a secretary of state can overturn a Parades Commission determination, especially following some form of input from the police.

Sir Chris had been coming under increasing pressure from Sinn Féin and the SDLP to stop the parade.

On Friday night, Sir Chris said: “The Parades Commission have advised me that while ultimately a matter for the courts to determine, the commission is of the view that, in light of this current assessment by the chief constable, the original determination does not now have enduring legal effect.

“Consequently, and in the interests of wider public interest and safety, I’ve come to the conclusion that the circumstances under which that decision was made have now changed considerably.

“As a result, the procession cannot go ahead as it was determined.”

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher had asked the secretary of state to review the Parades Commission determination allowing the Drumcree parade.

In a statement on Friday night, Boutcher said his “current assessment was that all available, lawful and proportionate options to facilitate completion of the procession had been exhausted”.

“Any remaining options would have required a substantial public order intervention,” he said.

He added: “Further to this, such an operation would in my view have had not only catastrophic long-term consequences for trust and confidence in policing, but for the Northern Ireland Executive and the peace process.”

Earlier, First Minister Michelle O’Neill confirmed she had received a letter from police investigating protests over the Drumcree parading dispute.

On Thursday, the police said they had begun issuing letters inviting people “reasonably suspected” of committing offences linked to the protests to interview.

A challenge to the decision to allow a controversial Orange Order parade to go down a predominantly nationalist road is being heard in court.

The deadlock over the proposed march in Portadown – opposed by residents of the Garvaghy Road – has lasted since last Sunday morning.

The stalemate has reopened what was once the most bitter parading dispute in Northern Ireland, with stand-offs in the mid-to-late 90s accompanied by riots, roadblocks and killings.

The fresh Court of Appeal application argues that the Parades Commission, the organisation that approved the march, had “materially misdirected itself” on the police assessment of the potential for disorder.

The application also said the commission had not given an “accurate representation” of PSNI evidence in its decision.

The Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition (GRRC) and their legal representatives arrived at the court on Monday morning.

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who has been acting as legal advisor to the Portadown District, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart and Orange Order legal representatives also arrived.

The hearing began in Belfast at about 10:30 BST.

The police prevented an early morning attempt by the Orange Order to make a controversial parade down a road which had previously been blocked by protesters.

A group of men tried to march from Drumcree Church down the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown in the early hours of Monday but a line of police Land Rovers stood in the way.

They had been unable to make the permitted parade on Sunday morning because protesters had gathered on the Garvaghy Road. The stand-off continued throughout Sunday, with the Orangemen waiting at the church, around a mile from the road, for the go-ahead from police.

Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill joined the protest, prompting Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson to accuse her of acting unlawfully.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant called for “compromise”.

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, from the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, said he was meeting the secretary of state and chief constable on Monday, and that he would not prejudge those conversations.

Nigel Dawson, who is the Orange Order’s Portadown district master, told BBC News NI there was frustration.

He said they had a legal right to parade down the Garvaghy Road and the police should facilitate their route.

“We have been open and honest, and were seeking mediation to seek a resolution suitable to both sides that would bring this to a successful conclusion,” he added.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart, who came back to Drumcree in the early hours of Monday, said the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s chief constable needed “to take a grip of this very quickly or his position will become untenable”.

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 after a series of legal challenges.

Since 1998, the Orange Order had been banned from completing its Drumcree march – and until this year had been repeatedly refused permission to finish the route by the Parades Commission, which was set up to adjudicate disputes.

The Orange Order is a Protestant pro-British organisation, while the area where it wants to walk – specifically along the Garvaghy Road – is largely Catholic and predominantly inhabited by pro-Irish nationalists.

In a statement on Saturday afternoon Archbishop Eamon Martin called for “prayers and support for a peaceful resolution to complex Garvaghy Road situation”.

The Catholic primate said he shared the “sense of shock and disappointment of so many people at recent developments”.

“I also appeal for support for the patient use of solely lawful and democratic processes to resolve this deeply complex and emotive situation.”

Fr Peter Clarke, from St John the Baptist in Portadown, said he was concerned the march would “clash” with parishioners coming and going from the church.

He said he had emailed the commission to express his concerns and stated he “doesn’t know how they came to” their conclusion.

Parishioners at St Patrick’s Church on William Street are also likely to be affected ahead of the 10:00 service, according to the priest.

He added “tensions are high” in the community, and said he will be addressing the situation during Sunday’s service.

The decision to give the go-ahead for the parade came after the five-person Parades Commission, led by Prof Evelyn Collins, held face-to-face talks with the Orange Order earlier this week, and a separate meeting with the residents’ coalition.

Senior police officers were also consulted about the planned parade.

Within the 31-paragraph determination by the Parades Commission, details were revealed of conversations held with the PSNI.

The document stated: “The police made both written and oral submissions, indicating that they, at the time of making them, had no information indicating that the parade would result in disorder or violence.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it had activated “mutual aid arrangements to support contingency planning for a policing operation” in Portadown on Sunday.

It is understood about 200 officers are coming from Scotland.