Drumcree: nationalist and unionist camps completely divided over Garvaghy march
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Why are the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents divided over the Drumcree march?
On the one side, the rights of a small number of people to march their traditional route, backed by a legal ruling.
On
the other side, a community which feels that that march is sectarian harassment and a relic of another age. A local issue but one with deep historical resonances and one which many fear has brought Northern Ireland to the political brink.
If we are to have any confidence in the courts and the rule of law, this parade must go ahead. No parade, no storm should be the message coming from unionism today.
Unionists accuse nationalists of not accepting the rule of law.
It is unreal that we have a First Minister behaving the way she is behaving. If I did it, or if any of my colleagues did it, I would be in the back of a Land Rover.
Nationalists accuse unionists of unnecessarily opening an old wound.
Everything that has happened here is an outrage and an affront to anybody who believes in decency, equality or democracy. It is as serious as that.
Let's bring you the latest from Portadown, from Stormont, and we'll try and make sense of all of that. I'm joined by Sam McBride in the studio, from Alison Morris on her way to Portadown, and we'll hear from Clare Dixon, our reporter, who's currently in Portadown, and by Andrew Madden, who's in Stormont. You're all very welcome to the Belltale. We are recording this at Monday lunchtime, just to get a sense of what's happening now in Portadown and what happened overnight. Let's hear from Clare Dixon.
Things are much quieter this morning at Drumcrae Church. Loyalist protesters who gathered yesterday evening to show their support for Portadown District have now dispersed, leaving just a few orange men standing outside the church hall. The orange men attempted to march at around 4.30am this morning, then again at half past nine and again at half past eleven. They were told by the PSNI that it wasn't safe for them to march the route, which includes Garvaki Road. That policing operation remains live as things stand. Meanwhile, on the Garvaki Road, protesters remain, although in much fewer numbers than what we saw yesterday. They're no longer blocking the road, instead lining each side of it. This morning Jamie Bryson arrived at Drumquery Church.
He communicated with police after the lodge members had attempted to march again and he told lodge members that the policing operation remains live but that it's still not safe for them to march the route.
Well, Michelle O'Neill left the protest on the Garvahy Road shortly after midnight.
What happened during the overnight protests on Garvaghy Road?
She said it was a victory for the Garvahy Road community and she said that the community does not want this march. Obviously, the Orange Men continued to make their case and attempted to walk down the road at 4am this morning. Alison, you were there in Portadown yesterday. It's a cliched question, but what was the atmosphere like?
It was a long day and there was, I suppose it's a very movable picture. It changed constantly throughout the day. I arrived at around 6am. It was dark. It had just started raining. It was miserable. And yet there were already thousands of people, even though that parade wasn't due to kick off, the determination said it could leave. The concrete church at 8am, there were already thousands of people and a lot of them had been there overnight. A lot of the community centre in the heart of Grahaighie Road had been set up, I suppose, sort of like a HQ for the protesters where they could go and get tea, sandwiches, they could try and dry off. And there was a machine in operation in there of local women just feeding people, making sure everyone was looked after.
There were coaches that were brought in from other places, I think two of those coaches had arrived. from Belfast in the middle of the night and one from Derry. And I spoke to people from Cavan, from Monaghan, from the surrounding, from all over. People had been travelling along with, I spoke to a lot of Corfaghy residents, many of whom had been up all night because they had been to court the following day before. And then they had been there for those court processes.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why are the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents divided over the Drumcree march?
0:04–3:11
2
What happened during the overnight protests on Garvaghy Road?
3:11–5:56
3
How did police manage the crowds and failed negotiations in Portadown?
5:56–11:00
4
How did the Drumcree dispute deepen political divisions at Stormont?
11:00–13:52
5
What did the court rulings say about the Orange Order’s right to march?
13:52–17:35
6
Could the Garvaghy Road dispute bring down Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government?
17:35–27:10
7
Can compromise resolve the legal and political standoff over the parade?
27:10–37:50
8
What are the latest reactions from Stormont to the Drumcree controversy?
37:50–41:02
Speakers
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