Drumcree: Orange Order propose scaled-back silent parade down Garvaghy Road - but sets conditions for 'final and complete solution' to dispute
The Orange Order has announced its proposal to complete its Drumcree church parade – requesting a silent walk down the Garvaghy Road with no more than 60 participants, with no bands.
However, the loyal institution has said that the Drumcree dispute will not reach “a final and lasting settlement” until the full Portadown District is allowed to complete the parade, banned almost three decades ago.
It has proposed the march would take place on the afternoon of Sunday 27 September – and “ensure there is no disruption to any worship or those coming to or from the local catholic church”.
The proposal, announced at a press conference at Carlton Street Orange Hall in Portadown, would mean representatives of each of the local Orange lodges would take part – rather than all members.
A previous application suggested two accompanying bands and up to 400 participants. But the order has described the “limited parade” it is now suggesting as “proportionate, inoffensive and wholly reasonable”.
It would be limited to 60 people, wearing collarettes and no other regalia. The silent parade would have no accompanying bands – with the only banners carried those of the Portadown District, the Union flag and an ex-serviceman’s standard.
Organisers say this would reduce the time required to pass each part of the route to less than two minutes, and no more than 15 minutes to pass the entire contested stretch of the Garvaghy Road.
In a statement, they said the procession “will be dignified, non-triumphalist and will be accompanied by six trained stewards who will remain in direct contact with the PSNI”.
Should the Parades Commission agree to such a parade, however, it would not represent a solution to the dispute, in the eyes of the Orange Order.
“Portadown District’s position that a final and lasting settlement to the Drumcree issue can only be achieved when the full District is permitted to return home. This parade plainly would not represent such a final settlement”, a spokesperson said.
“We want to make it expressly clear that this parade is not proposed as a final resolution, nor does it dilute the principled and unwavering position that any final and complete solution must entail the complete return home of the Portadown District.
“That is an objective we will continue to pursue with the same vigour and determination which has characterised our stand for the last 28 years”, they said.
Addressing the current Parades Commissioners, the Portadown District said: “You have no credibility. Do the right thing. Your continued clinging to your public office is raising tensions in Northern Ireland. You are the problem”.
TUV leader Jim Allister has questioned whether the Parades Commission can “overcome its innate anti-Orange bias”.
The North Antrim MP, speaking on Thursday morning, said: “Today is about righting an historic wrong. For almost 30 years the refusal to permit the completion of a church parade has festered. Now, there is an opportunity to see an equitable way forward.
“The latest absurdity which attends this situation, because of the weakness of the Secretary of State, is that a Parades Commission - demonstrably imbued with bias and hatred towards the Orange tradition - has the decision making power.
“Affirmations that the Commission has mended its ways will be tested by this modest, generous and neighbourly notification. Only the innate bias in which the Commission has excelled could see this parade refused. If that happens, then I look forward to further challenge and exposure of the Commission in fresh legal challenge.
“Portadown District has stretched itself to progress this matter. Let’s see if the Commission is big enough to do the right thing.”
The Royal Black Institution said last week’s legal ruling “brings into sharp focus the operational flaws and decision-making processes of the Parades Commission”.
The loyal order added: “We trust that the resolve and fortitude the Portadown District members have displayed to date, allied with the validation of the High Court ruling, will underpin their future decision-making and desire to see this whole episode resolved”.