{"id":641627,"date":"2026-10-01T13:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/641627\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T13:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:02:13","slug":"proposed-deal-would-have-accepted-orange-orders-legal-right-to-walk-down-garvaghy-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/641627\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed deal would have accepted Orange Order&#8217;s &#8216;legal right&#8217; to walk down Garvaghy Road"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DETAILS OF A PROPOSED deal to bring an end to the stand-off between the residents of Garvaghy Road and the Orange Order have emerged this morning.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement, which has already been rejected by the loyalist marching group, would see the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition accept that the Orange Order has a legal right to march along the route approved by the Parades Commission.<\/p>\n<p>The residents would also accept that it was wrong to block the Orange Order from marching along the road, BBC Radio\u2019s Nolan Show reported.<\/p>\n<p>These concessions were made on the condition that the march would not actually go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>DUP MP Carla Lockhart said on Wednesday night that there would be \u201cno capitulation\u201d and that the Orange Order \u201cwill not accept a deal where they walk away\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lockhart, who spoke at a loyalist rally in Portadown in support of the Orangemen, told the Press Association: \u201cI can assure you, you\u2019ll hear more from the Orange Order \u2013 but what\u2019s on the table is not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who is legal adviser to the Portadown Orangemen, also pushed back on suggestions an agreement between the two sides was close, insisting the loyal order members are \u201cnot doing any deal\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been engaged in a talks process with the Secretary of State and the Government, that is true,\u201d he told the same rally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is absolutely not true is the Portadown District are not doing any deal, there is no document on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Portadown District would not be doing any deal which doesn\u2019t deliver on the fundamental legal principle and the fundamental legal principle is this \u2013 that the Portadown District will walk the Garvaghy Road.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790859733_821_.jpeg\"  alt=\"legal-advisor-to-the-orange-order-and-spokesperson-jamie-bryson-and-dup-mp-carla-lockhart-speaking-during-a-drumcree-family-support-event-at-edgarstown-estate-portadown-co-armagh-picture-date-wedn\" class=\"alignnone inline-image\" \/><br \/>\n            Legal advisor to the Orange Order and spokesperson Jamie Bryson and DUP MP Carla Lockhart                    Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>    Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n<p>The UK\u2019s Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Bryant, has been meeting with delegations from both sides this week in order to try and reach a resolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More talks are expected to take place at Hillsborough Castle today.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>Criminal investigation\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the PSNI\u2019s chief constable, Jon Boutcher, has appeared before Northern Ireland\u2019s Policing Board today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Boutcher announced that the police had begun a \u201clarge-scale\u201d criminal investigation into the protest that has been blocking the march.<\/p>\n<p>Today he reiterated that there will be \u201cconsequences\u201d for those who blocked the Garavghy Road on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStanding in the street, blocking the lawful parade, will have criminal justice consequences for those involved, especially those who incited and organised it,\u201d he told the board.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve gathered evidence from the outset and established a dedicated and significant inquiry team. Anyone suspected of breaking the law will be investigated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere the evidence supports it, cases will be put to the Public Prosecution Service, and this process will be expedited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cThe rule of law has to prevail. I want to reiterate that there\u2019s a responsibility on everyone, as I\u2019ve said repeatedly, publicly, to call for calm, not to incite unrest or illegal activity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat especially includes elected representatives and others with influence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No review needed<\/p>\n<p>Boutcher also told the board he does not believe there is a need to ask Chris Bryant to review the Parades Commission decision to allow the march to go ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is an opportunity for me as the chief constable, if I deem it appropriate to apply to the secretary of state to review a Parades Commission determination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is further legislation within that Act under Section 11, which provides the Secretary of State with a series of comprehensive powers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe board simply needs to be reassured that I am constantly reviewing that position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut at this stage, it is my judgment that that is not necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are creating the time to resolve this, and that is in the interests of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boutcher said the policing operation in Portadown has so far cost \u00a33m (\u20ac3.51 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With reporting from Press Association\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETAILS OF A PROPOSED deal to bring an end to the stand-off between the residents of Garvaghy Road&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[270806,270807,42,43,2443,18254,119373,272395,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-641627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-drumcree","tag-garvaghy-road","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-orange-order","tag-portadown","tag-rejected","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641627","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=641627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}