Solidarity with the Garvaghy Road

Posted by Jim on August 27, 2026

The Garvaghy Road community has been assured that a court ruling quashing this year’s Parades Commission determination does not mean the Orange Order will be able to hold their infamously incendiary Drumcree parade through the nationalist area of Portadown.

A ruling was based on procedural reasons after the Parades Commission, which adjudicates on contentious parade, conceded failings in regard to their process for arriving at their ruling last year.

The brutal violence used by the RUC police to force anti-Catholic Orange Order parades through the nationalist enclave of the Garvaghy Road became some of the most shocking scenes of the 1990s in the north of Ireland (pictured, below).

The Parades Commission was set up as a direct result of the violence, and it has continued to make determinations on sectarian parades and parade routes across the North ever since. The commission’s rulings on the Drumcree parade have remained effectively unchanged for the past 28 years – rerouting the coat-trailing parades away from the nationalist area and down an alternative route.

This week’s court ruling did not determine that the infamously incendiary parade would be allowed. Despite public concern, any future Orange march along the Garvaghy Road will still require a fresh application and a new decision by the Commission.

That distinction has been lost amid an extraordinary display of triumphalism by political unionism and loyalism, with the court outcome hailed as a “seismic”, “totemic” and “historic and unprecedented victory”.

Among those who are most concerned are the Garvaghy Road residents, who are fearful of unionists and Orangemen once again playing politics with their district.

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, (pictured, left) countered efforts by unionists to reignite parading tensions in Portadown. He said the British government “have to come out strongly”.

“Out of all the solutions there has been over the years about marches the Parades Commission has proved to be effective,” he said.

“On one occasion it has been shown to make a procedural error, not a judgment error. There’s a clear distinction.”

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement recognised the right to live free from sectarian harassment and intimidation, but unionist politicians (pictured, right), including DUP MP Carla Lockhart and TUV leader Jim Allister, were present at Belfast High Court on Tuesday, shamelessly seeking to wind people up with the prospect of a return to the conflagrations of the past.

Their desperation in seeking to win over the unionist vote ahead of next year’s Assembly election was matched only by the preening vanity and absurd rhetoric of agitator turned paralegal, Jamie Bryson.

“This is for the people of loyal Portadown, and those no longer with us. No more are we standing, but now we are marching onward to victory,” claimed Bryson (centre, right).

BACK TO THE 90s?

Mr Mac Cionnaith said that, despite public assurances by nationalist leaders, there is “nervousness” in the Garvaghy Road district.

“A lot of that has been caused by the political shenanigans going on within unionism,” he said.

“Two political parties trying to be top dog and playing politics with the Garvaghy Road, and the Orange Order.”

The dispute has resulted in the deaths of several people.

In 1996 the parade was banned for the first time, but nationalist protesters were later brutally beaten off from the Garvaghy Road in a shocking u-turn.

On July 8 that year Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick was shot dead by members of the UVF outside Lurgan.

In April 1997 Catholic father-of-three Robert Hamill was beaten by a unionist mob in Portadown and died in hospital 11 days later from his injuries.

Weeks later off-duty RUC policeman Gregory Taylor was beaten and kicked to death in Ballymoney in County Antrim by a unionist mob in an attack linked to parade tensions.

In July that year the Garvaghy Road area was again besieged in the early hours of Drumcree Sunday as the Orange Order was again allowed to march through the nationalist district.

The memory of priests being forced to celebrate Mass in front of British army lines after parishioners were blocked from attending their local church remains vivid for many nationalists.

In July 1998, Catholic schoolboys Richard, Mark and Jason Quinn were murdered by unionists after their home was petrol bombed in Ballymoney, County Antrim, in an arson attack connected to the dispute.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who visited Garvaghy Road residents on Wednesday, said community tensions have returned to the area over what it has seen this week.

“This is a very confident community, a community that’s very much looking towards the future, and do not want the days of the past visited upon them once again,” she said.

“But this is a community that’s also anxious, very anxious, by what they saw yesterday – a triumphalism that was expressed by the leaders of unionism standing shoulder to shoulder, claiming a victory over this community.

“Does anybody really want to see those days?

“This community certainly doesn’t. I certainly do not want to see those days visited upon us and I think the question here is: for the leaders of unionism, why do they want us to revisit those dark days?

“Why do they want to bring us back to the days of tramping over the rights of this community?

“Why do they want to reach back to the days of unionists lording it over another community?”

She said the reaction of unionist leaders had exposed a desire to return to the past conflict.

“The anxiety that was felt in this community yesterday was what they saw on display by the leaders of political unionism.

“What they saw was an ugliness. What they saw was a harking for the days of the past.

“And what they can’t, or what they can’t fathom here in this community, is why the leaders of political unionism want to revisit those dark days.

“Why do they want to bring that back into this community?

“That does beg the question, why is unionism limping ever more, or day by day, to the more extreme element of things in society?

“None of us want to see this. We want to keep moving forward.”

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane also stressed that the legal ruling was about how the Commission reached its decision, not a victory establishing any right to march through the nationalist district.

“The court has quashed a Parades Commission determination because of failings in how that decision was reached. It has not determined that an Orange Order parade should proceed down the Garvaghy Road, nor does today’s judgment give permission for one,” he said.

“The people of the Garvaghy Road and Portadown have lived peacefully for 28 years and deserve to continue doing so. Drumcree came to represent deep sectarianism, bitterness and division, leaving wounds which have still not fully healed. Nobody should want to reopen those divisions.

“That is why the tribal and triumphalist reaction from some within political unionism today is so telling. Those declaring this a victory for unionism and loyalism should reflect on who exactly they believe has been defeated.

“The residents of the Garvaghy Road are not opponents to be defeated, and this should never become a contest where one community must win and another must lose.

“Our position is clear. We see no logic or justification for an Orange Order parade proceeding down the Garvaghy Road. If a fresh application is made, we will make representations to the Parades Commission firmly on that basis.”

Republicans recalled the determination of the local community in the 1990s to stand up to sectarian intimidation and expressed their support.

In a statement, the IRSP in Portadown said it wished to “reiterate the reality” that there will be no march down Garvaghy Road.

“Any such march taking place down Garvaghy Road is simply unfeasible. Not only do the vast majority of residents object, but the mere mention of a parade is enough to stir up feelings of fear in a community that witnessed horrific acts of violence due to the Drumcree dispute.

“The scars are still visible. The policing of such an event would be astronomical.

“Simply put – it is a nonstarter.

“To residents on the Garvaghy Road, we understand your fears and we hope this puts some minds at ease. We will not let such scenes play out in our community again.”

Mr Mac Cionnaith questioned what had changed to justify reopening the dispute.

“It begs the question what has changed?

“If anything the nationalist population has grown in Portadown.

“They need to factor that into any of their decision making.

“Yes, there have been changes from the last time there was a Drumcree Parade, but they also have to take into account there’s a lot more nationalist houses in the area now.

“And that could impact on what happens, not just on Garvaghy Road, but the commission is going to have seek the opinion of those people out there.

“I know for a fact there’s a number of people don’t want them out there.”

Contentious Orange Order parades continue every year in several nationalist areas across the North, including the giant Apprentice Boys parade in Derry earlier this month, because of a general acceptance of restrictions imposed by the Parades Commission. Those arrangements are now in jeopardy.

Mr Mac Cionnaith said a reversal in Portadown could have implications far beyond the town.

“Because there’s also the other question that needs to be taken into account. You have the Lower Ormeau Road, Springfield Road in Belfast, north Belfast, places like Armagh, Newtownbutler, Bellaghy – are they looking to open everything up again?

“That’s the question that has to be posed, to change the decision here would also mean having to change the decisions in all those other communities.”

He added: “I think it is fair to say, if anything, people will be slightly astounded if there’s any change to the determination at any stage – shocked, disappointed and probably angry.”

The Parades Commission itself has insisted that the court decision does not affect how it will consider future applications.

It said it had “already implemented procedural changes to address the issue identified in the proceedings” and would “continue to discharge its statutory functions and also learn the lessons required from this case”.