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Political representatives from the Newry and Armagh area have set out their views on the Drumcree standoff in Portadown, with several calling for calm. It follows a court decision allowing Portadown District Orangemen to parade along the Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years, a route residents and supporters have blocked since Saturday night. Currently there is stalemate with Orangemen attempting on a regular basis to walk the route but to date they have been stopped by police on each occasion.
Crotlieve Councillor Mark Gibbons said: "Tradition deserves respect, but respect must travel both ways." He said no tradition should require a community to relive its trauma, surrender its dignity or live once again beneath the shadow of fear.
Cllr Gibbons said the Orange Order itself has remained relatively quiet. Citing historical family links to Orange lodges in Glenarm and Carnlough, he appealed directly to its leadership: "please use your influence to calm tensions". He concluded: "This is one of those moments."
A protest in support of the residents was held at Cloughogue roundabout in Newry, which Newry and Armagh MP Dáire Hughes described as the site of historical protests. He said: "There is no going back. Not today. Not ever." He added that Sinn Fein stands fully with the Garvaghy Road community.
Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty spoke on the issue at the Stormont Assembly yesterday 28 September. He said: "I was humbled and proud to stand with the residents of the Garvaghy Road from Saturday morning through Sunday."
Mr McNulty said he arrived on the road after midnight on Saturday night and spoke to many residents, who told him they were there for their children. "They do not want their children and their grandchildren to experience the same horrors that was part of their lives with the Drumcree march growing up." He also paid tribute to members of the Tír na nÓg Ladies Gaelic Football team, who came out in the middle of the night to support their parents, aunties and neighbours after losing the County Final.
He said: "The residents, the people of the North including large swathes of Unionism, want Stormont to see sense." Mr McNulty said the people of the Garvaghy Road should not be forced to relive the fear, trauma and violence of the past. "This is not just 35 men walking down the street" and, he said, "this is a demonstration of dominance and a reminder of the past where 21 people, including children, were killed."
He criticised the Parades Commission and the Secretary of State for allowing the parade to go ahead, describing it as an irresponsible choice that "can only be described as fanning flames of division." He called on others to help ease tensions, saying: "The Secretary of State, the UK Prime Minister, and the Taoiseach need to do all in their power to de-escalate and to protect our peace, and to move all our communities forward positively together."
Marc Mac Seáin, People Before Profit's Newry & Armagh representative, said: "No Orange feet have marched on Garvaghy Road this weekend." He said he was proud to have stood alongside residents and party members through the dark, wind and rain. He said the Orange Order's plans were denied "not by the Parades Commission or Stormont, but thousands of people from Garvaghy Road alongside supporters."
He added: "People Before Profit absolutely reject the principle that the Orange Order or any hate group should be able to march where they want. We will continue to stand with the people of Garvaghy Road."
