Court ruling revives Portadown parade dispute as protesters block route
Hundreds gathered on Garvaghy Road after the Court of Appeal left the Parades Commission’s approval in place. The march’s outcome remained unclear.
Hundreds of protesters blocked Garvaghy Road in Portadown on Sunday after the Court of Appeal ruled it could not interfere with the Parades Commission’s decision to allow the Orange Order’s Drumcree parade along the route. It was the first approval for the route since 1998.
The commission had imposed conditions, including a limit of 35 participants, an 8am start and a requirement that the parade be held in silence. A judge blocked the decision on Saturday, citing the dispute’s potential to escalate, before the Orange Order’s appeal led to further hearings overnight.
Protesters gathered along the route as Orangemen waited at a church about a mile away for police to say the road was clear. Loudspeaker announcements warned protesters they could face arrest and prosecution. The available account did not confirm whether the parade ultimately proceeded.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and vice-president Michelle O’Neill, who is Northern Ireland’s first minister, joined the protest. McDonald described the mood as peaceful and orderly. O’Neill said the decision had raised questions about how the peace process worked.
DUP figures criticised the protest and Sinn Féin’s involvement. Northern Ireland secretary Chris Bryant said he lacked authority to call off the parade unless police formally requested it, and urged political leaders to lower tensions. The taoiseach, Mícheál Martin, called for mediation and described the commission’s decision as wrong.
The Garvaghy Road runs through a mainly nationalist area of Portadown, a largely Protestant town. The Drumcree parade has previously been linked to serious disorder, making the commission’s decision and the court’s limits on reviewing it central to the renewed dispute.
