Bryant suggested earlier this afternoon that a deal was \u201ctantalisingly close\u201d<\/a>, but he also warned he was not sure whether it will be possible.<\/p>\nThe Drumcree parading dispute, which was associated with violent disorder during the Troubles, has been reignited after the Parades Commission adjudication body granted permission for a limited Orange Order parade down the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years.<\/p>\n
It was supposed to take place at 8am on Sunday morning, but loyal order members were halted by police after more than 1,000 people gathered on the Garvaghy Road to block the route.<\/p>\n
Orangemen have been waiting since Sunday to conduct the parade. They have tried on several occasions to start the procession, but have been prevented by police each time.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Northern Ireland\u2019s police chief warned that \u201cmob rule\u201d must not be allowed to win as he stressed the need to find a peaceful resolution to the parade stand-off, which is in its fourth day.<\/p>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790816531_382_.png\")
\n Portadown Orange Order district master Nigel Dawson (centre), legal adviser to the Orange Order and spokesperson Jamie Bryson (left), and deputy district master of Portadown Orange Order Alastair Power at Hillsborough Castle (Mark Marlow\/PA)\n<\/p>\n
Jon Boutcher said he would continue to seek a way to facilitate the Orange Order march down the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road, but he made clear he is not prepared to do it at any cost, highlighting his overriding responsibility is keeping people safe.<\/p>\n
It came as Northern Ireland\u2019s First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill returned to the Garvaghy Road to give further support to protesters.<\/p>\n
The Sinn F\u00e9in vice president has defended her attendance at a large protest on Sunday which police have described as unlawful, stating \u201cthere are times in life you have to do the right thing\u201d.<\/p>\n
After hosting a third day of meetings at Hillsborough, Bryant said they had not reached the end of the process yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure whether it\u2019s possible and I would just appeal to everybody, including the wider community, not just the people I have been meeting in the room, that people are going to have to search deep in their souls for another chunk of compromise if we\u2019re going to get to a successful long-term resolution of the situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally \u2013 and everybody in my team \u2013 is personally working flat-out to try and get to a successful resolution, and I think that is tantalisingly close if everybody can just go that extra mile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Boutcher also confirmed there is a large-scale criminal investigation under way into a mass unlawful protest that blocked the Garvaghy Road on Sunday in an attempt to prevent the parade going ahead.<\/p>\n
Several high-profile politicians, including O\u2019Neill, participated in the unnotified protest.<\/p>\n
She returned to the scene on Wednesday with her party leader Mary Lou McDonald and met a group of around 150 protesters who are still at the site.<\/p>\n
Asked if she had broken the law, O\u2019Neill said: \u201cI accept that I made a choice, a choice to stand with the residents of the Garvaghy Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a choice I will continue to make.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is very clearly a community which feels under siege, a community that has been put in reverse and retraumatised in terms of what happened 28 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was an issue that was resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cTheir ask is a very moderate ask, to live free from fear and intimidation, and I support their call for that and I stand with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill said: \u201cI stand over my choice. There are times in life you have to do the right thing and the right thing is to stand here with these residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not let these people down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The permission to parade along the route was confirmed after three court challenges across Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday.<\/p>\n
The dispute is now set to return to the courts, with lawyers for the Garvaghy Road residents having launched a fresh legal bid to try to prevent the controversial march from going ahead.<\/p>\n
Their latest legal challenge, which argues the Parades Commission \u201cmaterially misdirected itself\u201d on the police assessment of the potential for disorder, is set to be heard on Friday.<\/p>\n
Boutcher\u2019s offer to meet representatives on both sides of the dispute comes as Bryant continues talks with Orangemen and nationalist residents at Hillsborough Castle.<\/p>\n
Boutcher said: \u201cMy officers and our mutual aid colleagues have and will continue to police Drumcree and our communities independently and impartially.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe principal objective in achieving the Parades Commission determination is to do so peacefully.<\/p>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790816532_552_.png\")
\n PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher (PA)\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople shouting at me has absolutely no effect on my judgment and they would do well to learn that. My overriding responsibility is to keep people safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to seek to achieve compliance with the Parades Commission determination, obtained by the Orange Order, and have created the space for the ongoing talks at Hillsborough with the parties involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, the upholding of the Parades Commission determination does not come at any cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe outstanding officers of the PSNI and our mutual aid colleagues will not allow society to implode into violent disorder and mob rule must not be allowed to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large-scale criminal investigation is under way regarding unlawful protest on the Garvaghy Road. I have given a clear direction regarding prioritising the evidence gathering and a criminal justice process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to focus our efforts on resolving this situation once and for all. I will not be part of this society moving backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said he had tabled exclusion motions at the Northern Ireland Assembly for O\u2019Neill and other Sinn F\u00e9in ministers in the Stormont Executive.<\/p>\n
He claimed they \u201cno longer enjoy the confidence of the Assembly\u201d after \u201cparticipating in the unlawful protest on the Garvaghy Road on 27 September which prevented a permitted parade from proceeding\u201d.<\/p>\n
The DUP and Ulster Unionist parties have said they will back the motion.<\/p>\n
He is calling for them to be excluded from holding office as a minister or junior minister for a period of 12 months.<\/p>\n
Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission adjudication body.<\/p>\n
The PSNI has confirmed Sunday\u2019s protest was unnotified and therefore unlawful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A PROPOSED DEAL to resolve the Drumcree parading dispute is \u201cnot acceptable\u201d, a DUP MP has said. Carla…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[73902,270806,270807,42,136913,96856,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-641113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-chris-bryant","tag-drumcree","tag-garvaghy-road","tag-headlines","tag-hillsborough","tag-michelle-o","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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