Drumcree stalemate enters third day with further talks expected

The standoff at Drumcree has entered its third day as negotiations continue to find a resolution to the contentious parading dispute.

A number of Orange Order members remain at Drumcree Church expecting to be allowed to begin their permitted parade, which would pass along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

However, protesters have stayed at the side of the road, insisting that the parade should not be allowed to proceed.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant (Aaron Chown/PA)

PA Wire

Talks are expected to resume on Tuesday following a day of discussions at Hillsborough Castle on Monday and heated exchanges in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant is expected to return to the region to facilitate further discussions after he returns from delivering his speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

On Monday, he had suggested that the appointment of a mediator may signal a way to resolve the impasse.

After meeting with both the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents, he said a solution to the dispute is “tantalisingly just a bit far away”.

Meanwhile, the ongoing row is expected to feature during exchanges at Stormont again on Tuesday.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill was accused by the Stormont speaker of showing “gross contempt” to the Stormont Assembly after she refused to answer an urgent question on her participation in an unlawful protest against the controversial parade.

Ms O’Neill and other senior Sinn Féin colleagues were among a large crowd that blockaded the road in the predominantly nationalist area of Portadown on Sunday to prevent the contentious Orange Order parade from passing the route.

Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission adjudication body.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill was criticised by the speaker of the NI Assembly (Liam McBurney/PA)

PA Wire

Police confirmed on Monday the protest was unnotified to the commission and therefore unlawful.

Orangemen have attempted to begin their parade on a number occasions, but police have halted them.

The PSNI has defended its approach, and Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the use of force to move protesters off the Garvaghy Road risked people getting “seriously hurt”.

The Drumcree parading dispute, which was associated with violent disorder during the Troubles, has been reignited after the Parades Commission granted permission for a limited parade down the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years.

At the height of the blockade on Sunday, more than a thousand people congregated on the road to prevent the parade from the Drumcree Church from passing along the route.

A ruling by the Parades Commission permitting the Orange Order march from Drumcree Church and along the Garvaghy Road was upheld in an “unprecedented” late-night sitting of the High Court in Belfast in the early hours of Sunday.

Protesters block the Garvaghy Road on Sunday (Peter Morrison/PA)

PA Wire

The Drumcree parade down the Garvaghy Road has been banned since 1998.

The stand-off in the late 1990s led to violent clashes for several summers and political tension necessitated major security operations.

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

On Friday, the commission reversed its long-running determination and granted permission for the parade – a decision welcomed by unionist parties and met with outrage from nationalist and republican parties.

Permission was granted for a parade subject to strict restrictions, including a limit of 35 participants and an 8am start time.