Northern Ireland tensions rise as court clears Orange march on Garvaghy Road

A late-night Belfast court ruling allowed the Orange Order parade to proceed along Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The decision revived painful memories of pre-peace clashes and triggered fresh appeals for calm.

In Short

• Thousands of protesters in balaclavas gathered early to block the procession
• Fireworks were set off before marchers began, amid arrest warnings
• Garvaghy Road remains a potent symbol of pre-peace accord sectarian unrest

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Sunday appealed for calm in Northern Ireland after the High Court in Belfast, in a late-night sitting, allowed a contentious Orange Order parade to go ahead. The march in Portadown drew heavy protest as thousands gathered to try to block it.

The parade marked the first time in almost 30 years that an Orange Order march was allowed down Garvaghy Road, a route that was a major flashpoint before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement largely ended decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland.

Thousands of protesters, many wearing balaclavas, gathered to stop the Orange Order marchers from proceeding along the street, where many residents favour unification with the Republic of Ireland. Fireworks were set off nearby about five minutes before the scheduled 8 am start, and protesters were warned over a loudspeaker that they could be arrested for taking part in an unlicensed counter-parade.

Burnham called for "calm on all sides" over the parade and said there have been "big gains made in Northern Ireland, and we don't want to see things go backwards".

Garvaghy Road was a notorious trouble spot before the Good Friday Agreement. In the years leading up to the deal, violent clashes broke out there over several summers, requiring major security operations. The agreement largely ended a conflict in which 3,600 people were killed, about 50,000 were wounded and thousands of families were bereaved.

The conflict in Northern Ireland centred on competing identities. While Northern Ireland remained in the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland gained independence a century ago, Irish nationalists in the north, most of them Catholic, have long sought union with the Republic of Ireland, while largely Protestant unionists want to remain part of the UK.

Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, the party historically linked to the Irish Republican Army, said the people of Garvaghy Road would "not be drawn back to the past". "This is madness," she said. "This, in fact, is primitive treatment of any community in the year 2026. It is intolerable, and it will not be tolerated."

Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest pro-UK party in Northern Ireland, accused Sinn Fein leaders of inflaming the situation. "The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Fein likes the outcome," he said. "Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law."

The final clearance for the march came at a court hearing that ended at 2.15 am on Sunday. The decision cleared the way for a parade that has revived memories of one of Northern Ireland's most sensitive disputes, prompting fresh appeals for calm from all sides.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends