'If they have to use force against us, let them use it': Garvaghy Road residents dig in heels as police negotiators approach
The leader of a residents’ group on Garvaghy Road has struck a defiant note as police negotiators moved in.
Breandan Mac Cionnaith addressed a large crowd blocking the Portadown street shortly before 12.30pm, stating through a loudhailer: “This community will make the decisions, nobody else.”
Stating he “remembered negotiations before”, he claimed “promises were thrown back in our face before they reached the end of this road”.
“It’s not going to happen again,” he added. “We will not let it happen again.
“If they have to use force against us, well then let them use it.”
A group of police negotiators had walked up to the protesters, though soon afterwards returned to the PSNI’s lines.
The protest has so far stopped a planned 8am march along Garvaghy Road by the Orange Order, which was cleared by the courts in the early hours of this morning.
Meanwhile a crowd has gathered in the centre of Portadown, awaiting the delayed parade.