Decision on long-banned Orange Order parade due today

A DECISION IS due today on whether an Orange Order parade is allowed to march down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown for the first time in almost 30 years.

The Parades Commission will rule on an application for 60 Orange Order members to take part in a proposed Drumcree parade on 27 September, after it blocked the order from marching along the Garvaghy Road in July every year since 1998.

The commission appointed a mediation company earlier this month to “facilitate a resolution” to the issue, after it was heavily criticised by unionist politicians last month when a High Court ruling quashed its most recent determination over the march.

However, residents living on Garvaghy Road, a nationalist area, have said they will “mobilise” and “come together” if the parade is allowed to march through their community.

The Drumcree parade dominated headlines in the 1990s when violent clashes and political tension necessitated a major security operation for several summers, as Garvaghy Road residents rejected the march passing through the community.

A number of people were killed during tensions in the 90s linked to the dispute.

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin previously said he will “keep under review” a request to meet Garvaghy Road residents over the Drumcree parading dispute.

The residents met with politicians in Dublin’s Leinster House on Thursday ahead of a Parades Commission ruling on Sunday’s proposed march.

Asked what they will do if the parade goes ahead, Linda O’Neill of the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition said: “Our plan is that the parade will not go down the road.”

O’Neill, a youth worker, said the community is also concerned over a large gathering of bands in the town on Saturday night.

She added: “So, Monday morning when we wake up, regardless of whether that parade gets down the road, there will be consequences for our community.

“If the decision doesn’t go our way, this community will then mobilise, come together, and come up with a plan b.

“But we’re not there right now. We are trying to believe in the process – but be under no illusions: We have been let down before.”

The Portadown District of the Orange Order, backed by the three unionist parties, has said it will be a much reduced number of people taking part in a silent parade for a short time on the Garvaghy Road.