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Garvaghy Road
PSNI still 'seeking compliance' with Parades Commission, as Taoiseach appeals for 'calm' at Drumcree
Talks to break the deadlock were launched earlier this week, but ended without agreement again on Thursday night.
LAST UPDATE | 2 Oct
POLICE IN NORTHERN Ireland are “continuing to seek safe and peaceful compliance” with the Parades Commission over the Drumcree stand-off.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has urged political parties not to further inflame the situation.
His comments come amid the ongoing dispute about the controversial Drumcree parade, which was last week green lit by the Parades Commission for the first time since 1998, but has been stalled ever since following a protest by the Garvaghy Road residents.
The coalition of residents in the largely nationalist area is opposed to the parade due to the conflict associated with it in the 1990s. A number of people were killed during the tensions, with many nationalists putting the total figure at 21.
Talks to break the deadlock were launched earlier this week, but ended without agreement again on Thursday night.
In a fresh statement this afternoon, Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson of the PSNI said the “major public safety operation” will continue throughout the weekend, and police will do “everything we can” to maintain order.
“Our investigation into anyone suspected of breaking the law related to this dispute is continuing at pace,” he said.
Two men have been interviewed under caution for common assault and disorderly behaviour. Two others appeared in court on Thursday charged with various offences committed in Portadown over the last week.
‘Do the right thing’
Northern Ireland’s justice minister Naomi Long today appealed to the Orange Order to “do the right thing” and choose not to march down the Garvaghy Road.
The Alliance Party leader told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme that while the Orange Order has established via the courts that it has a legal right to parade down the road, “they do not need to exercise that right”.
The march was given the go-ahead after three separate legal hearings over the course of 13 hours last weekend, which ran into the early hours of the morning.
A fresh legal appeal by the residents is set to be heard in the Court of Appeal on Monday.
Long said no one is questioning that the law has to be upheld, but “there is a difference between what the law permits you to do and what is wise”.
She said the question that remains is ‘what is the purpose of walking down Garvaghy Road?’.
Unfortunately, I suspect that those who have unpicked this wound and who have gone about trying to bring this back from the past and to drag us all back there, are not minded to make the kinds of compromise that is required.
“It isn’t about getting back to Carlton Street because there is an alternative route of the same length, and I would appeal to people to be wise.
‘No such thing as a half march’
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, told reporters that the Secretary of State wants residents and the Orange Order to reach agreement, but contended that “the reality is” there is “no such thing as half a march”.
He said: “There’s a march, or there’s not a march – simply that.
“We’ve made a share that our community has not given us any mandate to speak about a march.”
Speaking to reporters in Belfast this afternoon, DUP leader Gavin Robinson stressed the importance of the talks continuing.
“It is clear that over the last number of days there are too many people who have acted in a deeply reckless way,” he said.
“I think it is important at a time of budget problems, fuel crisis and issues affecting people right throughout this province that they look to us for leadership, and that is leadership that we will give, not the recklessness of others but the resolve to get things done.
“It is important that those talks continue and that if there is a mediated resolution to be found that it is reached grounded on the rule of law.”
He also welcomed the chief constable saying a criminal investigation was under way into potential law-breaking around the dispute, saying there should be consequences for any lawmakers who have “frustrated the will of a statutory body and the Court of Appeal”.
O’Neill hails open letter
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland first minister Michelle O’Neill has hailed a joint letter from a group of people from a Protestant background, now signed by 480, calling for the impasse to be brought to an end.
The letter, addressed to Bryant and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee, said its signatories hold a wide range of views on politics, faith and identity but “feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown”.
I want to commend the courage of those from a Protestant background who have come out in support of the rights of the people of Garvaghy Road.
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) October 2, 2026
A huge and growing number of people from Protestant backgrounds are now signing a letter calling for no Orange march to be forced down…
The signatories said they value the “peace and progress” built since the Good Friday Agreement and are concerned that the current dispute could “reopen old wounds”.
“We appeal to the Orange Order to look towards the bigger picture and bring this impasse to an end in the interests of our entire community,” they said.
“We urge the British and Irish Governments to act together and without delay: to restore stability, to ensure that the parading framework is robust and trusted, and to spare the residents of the Garvaghy Road a return to the fear they endured for so many summers.
“This is a time when all of us committed to a better future have a responsibility to raise our voices to protect peace, progress and a shared society free from sectarianism.
“We must avoid the abyss we are currently staring into. For the future of our children and grandchildren, we cannot go backwards.”
The signatories include former Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn, Presbyterian Minister Rev David Latimer and former DUP adviser Wallace Thompson.
In a post on social media, O’Neill commended “the courage of those from a Protestant background who have come out in support of the rights of the people of Garvaghy Road”.
“A huge and growing number of people from Protestant backgrounds are now signing a letter calling for no Orange march to be forced down,” she said.
“Support for the residents of Garvaghy Road is growing across Ireland and internationally. 28 years of peace on the Garvaghy Road needs protected. There can be no going back.”
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