Drumcree: Parade 'about righting a wrong' for Orangemen after 28 years of weekly protests

The Orange Order’s proposal for a scaled-back parade down the Garvaghy Road is about “righting a wrong” – and residents of the area should be assured they are dealing with reasonable people, the local MP has said.

Carla Lockhart was speaking as a fresh bid was made for representatives of Portadown lodges to complete a parade banned from a main road in the town in 1998, after opposition by a nationalist residents group.

placeholder image — DUP MP Carla Lockhart, during a press conference at Carleton Street Orange Hall in Portadown, Co Armagh. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The DUP MP said the bid was about “healing a wound that has run deep” and being “accommodating” to locals in the mainly nationalist part of the County Armagh town.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday morning, the Orange Order said its proposal to complete the parade involves a silent walk down the Garvaghy Road with no more than 60 participants, and no bands.

However, it made clear that this would not be seen as a final resolution to the dispute, which resulted in widespread disorder and murders during the late 1990s.

The issue has been brought back to the fore by a legal challenge which exposed serious flaws in how the Parades Commission came to a recent determination to ban the parade again. The fallout resulted in the resignation of one commissioner – and a judge-led review of the quango’s activities.

Addressing reporters at Carlton Street Orange Hall, Carla Lockhart said it was a significant day for Portadown, the Portadown District, and for the community as a whole.

“This is about righting a wrong that has been inflicted upon Portadown District for the past 28 years”, the Upper Bann MP said.

“It is about healing a wound that has run deep, and it is about being accommodating. It is about being proportionate. It is about saying to the residents of the Garvaghy Road, ‘we want to accommodate and be very reasonable in our request’.

“And I can assure you, you are dealing with very reasonable individuals at this table. For the past 28 years, 52 weeks of the year, they have stood dignified.

“They have sought to have their protest on Drumcree Hill, week on week in a dignified and peaceful way.

“So today is a big day, and I'm asking that the Parades Commission apply the law to this notification. And if the law is applied, I see no reason as to why 60 men, with no bands, no drum beat, a simple collarette, cannot walk down a road that has been walked from 1807”, she added.