Residents said they were at court to “seek justice for our community”
Garvaghy Road residents challenging a ruling permitting the Orange Order to march along their street have said they will seek to find out if PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher “misled” the ruling body.
The Parades Commission, which decides on contentious marches in Northern Ireland, ruled on the order’s application for the Drumcree parade, allowing them to walk down the largely nationalist road in Portadown for the first time in almost 30 years.
The commission placed a number of restrictions on the procession, including an 8am start time on Sunday and limiting it to 35 participants.
The application from the Portadown District of the Orange Order proposed 60 Orange Order members take part in the procession.
The PSNI is expected to put in place a significant security operation for the parade, with officers from outside the region set to assist under mutual aid arrangements.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the High Court in Belfast to support residents of the Garvaghy Road as they challenged the ruling on Saturday.
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, from the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, addressed the crowd, saying they were at court to “seek justice for our community in Portadown.”
“All of this depends on the support that we have, not just here, the support that we have in Portadown as you are probably aware, over the last number of days, coming from all of the six counties, and coming from the 26 counties – Ireland’s behind us,” he said.
“Ireland’s standing for justice here. And for this to be a so-called ‘small, normal, little’ demonstration by the Orange Order, the Chief Constable is going to have to explain why he decided at the beginning of the week that he needed reinforcements from England.
“Did he mislead the Parades Commission? Did he lie to the Parades Commission? That’s what we are going to try and discover this morning.”
Also present in court on Saturday were DUP representatives Carla Lockhart, Jonathan Buckley and Diane Dodds, alongside Portadown Orange District LOL 1 legal representative and loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.
Alongside Mr Mac Cionnaith were Sinn Féin representatives John O’Dowd and Catherine Nelson, as well as SDLP leader Claire Hanna and MLA Justin McNulty.
The Drumcree parade dominated headlines in the 1990s when violent clashes and political tension necessitated a major security operation for several summers as Garvaghy Road residents rejected the march passing Drumcree church through the community.
A number of people were killed during tensions in the 1990s linked to the dispute.
The Portadown district released a statement on Saturday morning welcoming the fact the group will “complete its 1998 parade home from Drumcree along its traditional route”.
“While we are not happy with the further restrictions that have been placed upon us, we will comply fully with the law and the determination,” they said.
“We now ask our community to do likewise. We would appeal to everyone to conduct themselves responsibly and peacefully, and not to do anything that could increase tensions within the community.
“For 28 years, this district has been required to comply with determinations placed upon it.
“All we ask now is that the same respect for the law and the determination is shown by those who have been affected by this decision.
“We hope that the 27 September can pass peacefully and that everyone involved will act responsibly and respect the determination.”
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