NOEL GALLAGHER AND Susan Sarandon are among almost 50 celebrities to sign an open letter of support for the residents of Garvaghy Road. 

Gallagher and Sarandon are joined by global stars like The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, The Jam’s Paul Weller and Madness frontman Suggs. 

On Monday, appeal court judges in Belfast reserved their judgment in a legal challenge over the Drumcree parading dispute.

Residents of the Garvaghy Road have been locked in a dispute over a planned Orange Order march down the nationalist road on Sunday, 27 September.

Residents in the largely nationalist area around the road – backed by Sinn Féin, the SDLP and People Before Profit – unsuccessfully fought the decision in court.

The court considered a fresh legal challenge on Monday and said the judges’ decision is reserved, and a date for a decision cannot be given right now.

The open letter published on Tuesday also features stars like Line Of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar, all three members of Kneecap, musician Imelda May, Kevin Rowland and Sean Reid of Dexy’s Midnight Runners and The Pogues’ Spider Stacy.

WOW! 👏🏼 Oasis’s Noel Gallagher Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon founder of The Smiths Johnny Marr legend of music Paul Weller And actors Siobhán McSweeney and Adrian Dunbar Have all put their names to a letter supporting the right of Garvaghy Road residents to live in peace free from intimidation. The celebrities have called for the Garvaghy Road community to be protected from any form of forced march. The full list of signatories includes some of the biggest names in music, film and the arts. Support for the Garvaghy Road community continues to grow across Ireland and around the world. The British Secretary of State needs to end this unwanted march now. 28 years of peace must be protected. No going back. Not now. Not ever.

— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) October 6, 2026

In the letter they said the residents must be “robustly protected from any form of forced processions that disregard their consent, safety and right to live in peace free from intimidation”.

“The residents of the Garvaghy Road endured years of profound trauma, fear and disruption during the height of the parading conflicts in the 1990s.”

It said it is “entirely unacceptable” that the Garvaghy community should “face a return to that anxiety”.

“To allow old wounds to be aggressively reopened risks destabilising community relations not only in Portadown but across society in the North” it continued. 

The letter said an international mediator would “offer a viable path forward”.

An international mediator would “lower the political temperature”, “restore public confidence” and “protect the wider peace process”, according to the letter. 

“We cannot afford to step backward. We urge you to exercise courageous political leadership at this critical juncture by looking to the international community for a neutral arbiter who can guide all sides toward a shared, peaceful future.”