Garvaghy Road residents to ‘mobilise’ and 'come together' if parade approved

People living on the road met with politicians in Dublin’s Leinster House on Thursday ahead of a Parades Commission ruling on Sunday’s proposed march.

Asked what they will do if the parade goes ahead, Linda O’Neill of the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition said: “Our plan a is that the parade will not go down the road.”

Ms O’Neill, a youth worker, said the community is also concerned over a large gathering of bands in the town on Saturday night.

She added: “So, Monday morning when we wake up, regardless of whether that parade gets down the road, there will be consequences for our community.

“If the decision doesn’t go our way, this community will then mobilise, come together, and come up with a plan b.

“But we’re not there right now. We are trying to believe in the process – but be under no illusions: We have been let down before.”

The Orange Order is seeking to complete its Drumcree parade along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown for the first time in almost 30 years.

A Parades Commission decision over the Co Armagh parade is expected to be made public on Friday.

It will decide on an application for 60 Orange Order members to take part in a proposed procession on Sunday September 27, after being heavily criticised by unionist politicians last month when a High Court ruling quashed its most recent determination over the march.

The decision is not expected to be made public until Friday.

The Parades Commission has blocked the order from marching along the Garvaghy Road in July every year since 1998.

The Portadown District of the Orange Order, backed by the three unionist parties, has said it will be a much reduced number of people taking part in a silent parade for a short time on the Garvaghy Road.

The Drumcree parade dominated headlines in the 1990s when violent clashes and political tension necessitated a major security operation for several summers, as Garvaghy Road residents rejected the march passing through the community.

A number of people were killed during tensions in the 90s linked to the dispute.

Ms O’Neill said she was 22 the last time an Orange parade went down Garvaghy Road and said her community had “lived through it enough” and has “every right to live in peace”.

She said: “From when this whole thing started two weeks ago, our community is feeling despair, hurt, shock, trauma – you name it.

“But we’re strong and we also have right, and we also have justice – we hope – on our side.”

She added: “Our community already are going to have to have some sort of recovery process.

Vincent McAleenan said that 28 years ago he and his son who was then seven years old had “seen people beat off the road”.

“I now have a grandchild and a nine-year-old. This is not going to happen to her.

“We have to stand up for our rights.

“The Orange Orders say they have rights to walk the Garvaghy Road – we have rights to live on it.”

He said the Orange Order should “take the high ground” and “not even ask for this parade anymore”.

They were was among many Garvaghy Road residents who were in Leinster House on Thursday for meetings with Sinn Fein and other political parties.

Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty said: “We’re all kind of shocked at the situation that we found ourselves in.

“All who are old enough to remember the scenes of Garvaghy Road over 28 years ago, when the Orange Order tried to force their will on the people of the nationalist community when an Orange march was being attempted to be forced down that road.

“We know the impact that that had in the community, the trauma that that had, but also the aftermath of that, the killings that took place in that community as well, which we’re still dealing with today.

“This is about hearing from the voices of that community themselves.”

Earlier, Tanaiste Simon Harris welcomed the group to the Dail and said: “I am very much aware of the concerns of residents in the area.

“I am also very much aware of the very painful and traumatic history in relation to that community and what they endured and I want to assure you that government officials are monitoring the situation closely.”

He added he he was “mindful of the role of the Parades Commission”.

A Government spokesperson said officials continue to engage with the residents’ group.