Britain27 September, 20262 min read
Protesters Block Orange Order March in Portadown After High Court Permits It
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Belfast High Court authorized the Orange Order march through Garvaghy Road, first in 28 years. Thousands of Catholic protesters blocked the route, triggering a heavy police presence.
32 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on UK Police Charge Teddy Young With Spying For Foreign Power, Royal Navy Member →
Go-ahead in Portadown
Thousands of protesters blocked Garvaghy Road in Portadown as the Northern Ireland High Court permitted a Protestant Orange Order march through a mainly Catholic-nationalist area for the first time in 28 years. High Court judge Michael Humphreys rejected residents’ challenge to the Northern Ireland Parades Commission decision, and another judicial body later upheld the authorization.
The Parades Commission approved the procession with a 35-person limit, barred bands and accompanying supporters, and required the march to finish by 9:30am (08:30 GMT). Jon Boutcher, the head of Northern Ireland police, called for “those with influence to encourage people to comply with the law,” while he said there have been “no signs of violence or disorder.”
Burnham urges calm
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham urged “calm” in Northern Ireland after the High Court in Belfast gave the parade go-ahead in a late-night sitting. Burnham told the BBC in an interview that there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland, and we don’t want to see things go backwards.”
Michelle O’Neill, the Northern Ireland First Minister of Sinn Féin, condemned the late-night decision and told reporters, “This is madness,” as the march was due to begin. Gavin Robinson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said, “The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Fein likes the outcome,” while he argued that institutions are founded on respect for police, courts and the rule of law.
Peace process at risk
Michelle O’Neill said the decision to give the march the go-ahead “brings into question how this whole peace process works,” while she attended the counter-protest on Garvaghy Road. Gerry Carroll, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the People Before Profit (PBP) party, attended the demonstration as residents organized a counter-protest in the Garvaghy Road area.
The Orange Order members remained gathered in a church hall in Drumcree, about a mile from Garvaghy Road, awaiting new instructions from the police. The BBC said the Drumcree dispute has the potential to affect other parts of Northern Ireland and the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont, with the dispute described as “What happens at Drumcree never stays at Drumcree.”