Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has announced a ban on the Drumcree Orange Order parade, overturning a Parades Commission ruling that had allowed the march to proceed with restrictions. The move follows a standoff that stretched nearly two weeks after the parade’s scheduled date of Sunday, Sept. 27, when a large protest on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown stopped the march before it started.
The parade would have taken marchers from Drumcree Church into Portadown, but up to 1,000 people, including First Minister Michelle O’Neill, blocked the road to prevent it, according to the BBC.
The Parades Commission Ruling And The Decision To Overturn It
The Parades Commission had ruled the march could go ahead under restrictions, but Chief Constable Jon Boutcher advised the Secretary of State against allowing it to proceed. Under existing legislation, a Secretary of State can overturn a Parades Commission determination, particularly when police provide input recommending it.
Bryant said “it would not be possible to enable the procession to happen without a major intervention which would carry an unacceptable risk of serious injury, disorder and a wider contagion effect across Northern Ireland,” according to the BBC. He added that “all available, lawful and proportionate options to facilitate completion of the procession had been exhausted.”
Bryant also said that forcing the parade through “would in my view have had not only catastrophic long-term consequences for trust and confidence in policing, but for the Northern Ireland Executive and the peace process.” The Parades Commission has since stated that its original determination no longer has enduring legal effect given the current police assessment.
What The Drumcree Parade Ban Means For Community Tensions
The decision produced sharply divided reactions. Jubilant scenes broke out at a community hall off Garvaghy Road when word of the ban was confirmed, the BBC reported.
The Portadown District, representing the Orange Order’s local lodges, took a far harsher view. It said the chief constable “has abdicated his responsibility for policing” and accused the Secretary of State of “bowing to the republican mob and rewarding criminality.” The group also said the ban was “a direct result of republican agitation, mobilisation, and looming threats of potential violence.”
O’Neill confirmed she had received a letter from police who are investigating protests connected to the parading dispute, according to the BBC.
Background On The Drumcree Dispute
Drumcree has stood among Northern Ireland’s most serious parading disputes for decades. Standoffs in the mid-to-late 1990s over Orange Order attempts to march along the Garvaghy Road brought riots, roadblocks and killings. The Parades Commission was established in 1998 specifically to regulate contested marches and ease tension surrounding them.
This year’s nearly two-week standoff between Orangemen and nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road echoed that earlier era of confrontation, even as the ultimate outcome, the ban itself, differed from the violent clashes of the 1990s.
What’s Next
The Parades Commission said it hopes “a way forward can be found through constructive engagement between those concerned,” according to the BBC. No timeline for further talks or a future parade determination has been announced, and the BBC did not report any legal challenge to Bryant’s decision.
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