Drumcree Orangemen slam 'inflammatory rhetoric' over Garvaghy Road parade - and call for solution which 'balances rights of everyone'
The Orange Order has renewed its call for mediation over a proposed parade along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road – after Sinn Fein said local residents didn’t want it “forced through” the area.
The institution’s Portadown District has criticised what it called “unnecessarily inflammatory rhetoric” after a public meeting in the area on Tuesday night, organised by the republican party.
Orangemen say they do not want to “defeat the people of the Garvaghy Road, but called for an “end to efforts to seek supremacy over us and our rights”.
The decades-old Drumcree dispute is back in the headlines in recent weeks after a landmark legal victory for the Orange Order over the Parades Commission.
A determination by the body – banning Orangemen from the Garvaghy Road earlier this summer – was quashed. It identified serious flaws in how the Commission had reached its determination, and resulted in the resignation of one of the commissioners, Billy Gamble.
The unionist parties have all called on its chair Dr Evelyn Collins to quit, but she has remained in post and the government will conduct a review into the body’s activities.
The remaining commissioners will need to rule on a scaled-back application for 60 order members to take part in a parade on Sunday September 27.
Ahead of that, a Sinn Fein organised community rally was held in Portadown’s Garvaghy Road area on Tuesday night.
Speaking after the meeting, Sinn Fein Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd said: “The message from the hall was quite clear, ‘enough was enough’.
“This community wants to continue to live in peace. It wants to continue to have the opportunities that have been created over the last 28 years in the absence of Orange Order marches forced through this area.
“So the message was clear, this issue is closed, go home and allow this community and your community to live in peace.”
Breandan Mac Cionnaith, from the Garvaghy Road Resident Coalition, challenged unionists to “reassess what they’re at”.
“Is it right that an organisation can start to terrorise an entire community again, because what was felt in the meeting from the local residents was the experiences that people went through in the 1990s and their fears about what happened to them could happen to their children and young people,” he added.
Asked about taking part in mediation talks, Mr Mac Cionnaith said the commission has contacted them, and they have replied.
“When I receive the commission’s reply, I will be in a better position to talk about that, but let’s remember this, an Orange march on the Garvaghy Road is not part of our agenda,” he said.
Pressed further, he added: “This community has sent a full response to the Parades Commission”, and suggested when that process has completed they might comment on that aspect further.
In a statement, Portadown District said: “We note tonight’s political commentary by those opposed to the equal and balanced exercise of the rights of all citizens.
“It is welcome that - beneath the unnecessarily inflammatory rhetoric - the obstinate language of rejecting any form of dialogue or mediation has been abandoned, with mediation no longer ‘off the table’.
“This is significant progress, and we look forward to good faith engagement to explore how we all work together to help us build a rights-based society, which respects the rights of all those who live in the community.
“We do not wish to defeat the people of the Garvaghy Road, some of whom are opposed to us, and we would urge an end to efforts to seek supremacy over us and our rights. Let us work together in good faith to find a solution which proportionately balances the rights of everyone and in a respectful and tolerant way.
“We have written today to urge the Commission to urgently progress the commencement of mediation, and we stand ready to engage in good faith without preconditions.”
Legal advisor to the Portadown District Jamie Bryson said: “On behalf of the Portadown District confirmation has been sent to the Parades Commission confirming a desire to enter to mediation without precondition, and the District stands ready to do that immediately.
“They wish to engage in constructive dialogue and consultation, and to do so with an open mind and in good faith.
“This is about approaching the issue through the lens of the law and a human rights framework, ensuring the rights of all persons- both the Orangemen and those who oppose them- are respected and equitably balanced in a proportionate way.”