The Northern Ireland Secretary is holding crunch talks with Orangemen and nationalist residents in a bid to resolve an intensifying dispute over a controversial parade in Portadown.

placeholder image — Sir Chris Bryant had scheduled meetings with representatives from both the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition at Hillsborough Castle. | -

Sir Chris Bryant had scheduled meetings with representatives from both the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition at Hillsborough Castle.

Loyal order members remained at Drumcree in Portadown on Monday after a weekend of tension in the Co Armagh town after their planned parade was stopped by police over the scale of a mass protest on part of the proposed route – the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road.

Senior Orangemen in the Portadown district have called on Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Jon Boutcher to resign for failing to clear the road and facilitate the parade.

The Drumcree parading dispute, which was associated with violent disorder during the Troubles, has been reignited after the Parades Commission adjudication panel granted permission for a limited parade down the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years.

The row has rocked the Stormont devolved institutions, with First Minister Michelle O’Neill facing claims of “law breaking” for participating in Sunday’s protest, which was an illegal gathering.

The Traditional Unionist Voice party has called on the DUP to withdraw the party’s deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly from office – a move that would forcibly remove Ms O’Neill from her post in the joint office.

Monday’s sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which is set to be dominated by the parading controversy, began with a plea to MLAs from Stormont speaker Edwin Poots to avoid engaging in rhetoric that might inflame tensions.

The PSNI is maintaining a low-key presence near Drumcree Parish Church where a number of loyal order members stayed overnight in the expectation of completing their march.

On Monday morning, five Orange Order members walked to the police line close to Drumcree Church.

They were told by an officer that they were not permitted to proceed.

But after a member of the public walked along the road, the five members removed their collarettes and walked again to the police line.

After again being stopped, Portadown deputy district master Alastair Power asked the officer to confirm that a member of the public was allowed to walk down the road but his colleagues were not.

Around a mile away, a small number of protesters, some with their faces covered, gathered on the Garvaghy Road.

At the height of the blockade on Sunday, thousands of people congregated on the road to prevent the parade from the Drumcree Church from passing along the route.

The mass gathering, which was illegal under parading legislation in Northern Ireland, involved senior Sinn Fein politicians, including Ms O’Neill.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna also attended.

It was organised after Orangemen managed to overturn a long ban on them parading down the road.

The blockade continued through the day and late into the night, as Orangemen assembled at the church waited to commence their parade.

Orange members made several attempts to begin their march, including in the early hours of Monday, but were prevented by police.

The protest on the Garvaghy Road largely dispersed just after midnight after Breandan Mac Cionnaith from the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition told demonstrators that a process to resolve the stand-off would commence on Monday.

He said the coalition would engage in meetings with Sir Chris and Mr Boutcher.

Under parading legislation in the region, protests against parades must be notified and approved by the Parades Commission.

The blockade on the Garvaghy Road was an unnotified gathering.

Ms O’Neill and other ministers in the Stormont Executive are bound by a pledge of office that contains a commitment to uphold the law.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said politicians who participated in the protest needed to face consequences for their actions.

Ms O’Neill and Ms Hanna have both defended their attendance on the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.

The Northern Ireland Secretary has appealed for calm and urged political and community leaders to reach for compromise.

Sir Chris held talks with political leaders on Sunday night, but no resolution emerged.

A ruling by the Parades Commission permitting the Orange Order march from Drumcree Church and along the Garvaghy Road was upheld in an “unprecedented” late-night sitting of the High Court in Belfast in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Drumcree parade down the Garvaghy Road has been banned since 1998.

The stand-off in the late 1990s led to violent clashes for several summers and political tension necessitating major security operations.

The Orange Order has unsuccessfully applied for more than a quarter of a century to complete its 1998 walk along its traditional route.

On Friday, the commission reversed its long-running determination and granted permission for the parade – a decision welcomed by unionist parties and met with outrage from nationalist and republican parties.

Permission was granted for a parade subject to strict restrictions, including a limit of 35 participants and an 8am start time.