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Opiniondrumcree standoff
Burnham's new man in Belfast hasn't been here long enough to grasp how big a 's***show' this is
The return of an Orange parade to the Garvaghy Road has reopened old wounds after 28 years, and has exposed the deep political and community divisions that remain.
IN THE BATTLES of peace there are some issues that cannot be resolved with ‘a bit for you and a bit for me’. The long-running Drumcree marching dispute is one such issue.
This morning, I rolled my eyes as I listened to a news clip of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant, newly appointed by fresh PM, Andy Burnham, recorded on Sunday night; to a few words in which he said: “We haven’t got a solution yet.”
He misses the point. He clearly doesn’t understand. Chris Bryant hasn’t been here long enough to grasp the complexities of these things.
After 28 long years, there was permission for a much-reduced Orange parade – without bands and music – to pass along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown early on Sunday morning. It would have been the completion of the return leg of a parade blocked in 1998, but it didn’t happen.
Hundreds of protesters on the predominantly nationalist part of the route stood in its way – stood there from Saturday, through Sunday and into today.
As I watched the live television coverage and listened in, I thought about everything being on the line again – policing, politics, community relations and so much more.
I could also hear the tone being set for the election battles of 2027.
The decision makers had clearly underestimated the response. The police (the PSNI now approaching its 25th birthday in November) were put in an impossible position. One officer called it a “shit show”.
The only way to have cleared the road would have been to force people – including many elected representatives – off it. It had all the potential to recreate the nightmare of 1997 when a massive security operation – police and army – made a path for the parade, and made politics even more difficult.
Any repeat of that would have been disastrous.
Institutions have a responsibility
In a statement this morning, the chair of the police federation – which represents all ranks through to chief inspector – described “incredible restraint and professionalism”.
That statement from Liam Kelly continued: “The bottom line is no one was hurt. There was no rioting. Thankfully, no officers or protesters or Orange Order members sustained injury. That is success in my book. From a policing perspective, it was a job well done.”
The big damage is at the political level; the cutting shrapnel obvious in every angry word. Unionists have their eyes on Sinn Féin – on First Minister Michelle O’Neill – and on the protest that blocked the way of the planned parade.
SDLP representatives, including leader Claire Hanna, were on the Garvaghy Road on Sunday. People Before Profit were there, including Stormont MLA Gerry Carroll. And the Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald was also present with many of the party’s Dáil representatives. There was a mood that meant there would be no parade, no matter how small.
Unionists are furious that the march was blocked by protest. Angry also about the New Ireland conversation which they feel is being forced down their throats, and they will view the events of Sunday as making a mockery of any suggestion of a shared future.
All of this is the latest predicament in the politics of the North – the “shit show” that was described to me on Sunday.
The Parades Commission is in the spotlight, with a question about what has changed in the past 28 years to allow a parade at Drumcree – and to explain the logic and the reasons of its decision.
On Sunday, I re-read my archive file from 1998 – the diary pages of days and nights in Drumcree, the logging of detail of murder and mayhem in the marching madness.
Yesterday is not just about yesterday. As always there is history; hurts and reminders of the once hell of this place.
A reminder also of the importance of decisions in the here and now, and for the need to understand the many pulses that yesterday raced to danger levels.
In all of this, there is a reminder of what hasn’t been achieved in the peace and of the deep trenches and the issues that are still part of the fight.
Brian Rowan is a journalist and author. He is a former BBC correspondent in Belfast. Brian is the author of several books on Northern Ireland’s peace process. His new book, “Living With Ghosts” is out now at Merrion Press.
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