{"id":784498,"date":"2026-09-27T18:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784498\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T18:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:14:12","slug":"tense-standoff-over-loyalist-march-in-portadown-as-protesters-block-route-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784498\/","title":{"rendered":"Tense standoff over loyalist march in Portadown as protesters block route | Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of protesters spent the day blocking the route of a hugely contentious parade in Northern Ireland<\/a> after a court gave late-night clearance for the Orange Order to march on a historically significant road for the first time in nearly 30 years.<\/p>\n

The loyalist Drumcree parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown was given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission<\/a> for the first time since 1998, a decision denounced by Sinn F\u00e9in as \u201cmadness\u201d.<\/p>\n

It led to a weekend of intense legal wrangling which concluded at 2.15am on Sunday when the court of appeal said it could not interfere with the commission\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Portadown Orangemen at Drumcree Church start their march towards Garvaghy Road, which was stopped a short distance later by police. Photograph: Paul Faith\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In driving rain on a cold Sunday morning, hundreds of nationalist protesters gathered to block the route. Many linked arms and sang songs as announcements were made over loudspeaker that they were liable to arrest and prosecution.<\/p>\n

The Orangemen spent the day ensconced a mile away in a church, the proposed start of the march, and said they would wait until police told them the road was clear.<\/p>\n

Among the protesters was the Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> president, Mary Lou McDonald, who said the decision to allow the parade was \u201cmadness\u201d and \u201cprimitive treatment of any community in the year 2026. It is intolerable, and it will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe mood here has been peaceful. It has been united and orderly. This is a dignified and united community and they are absolutely determined that they and we will not be drawn back into the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle O\u2019Neill (centre) and Mary Lou McDonald (right) speak to the media in Portadown. Photograph: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Michelle O\u2019Neill, the Sinn F\u00e9in vice-president and Northern Ireland first minister, was also there and said reigniting the dispute brought \u201cinto question how this whole peace process works\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told reporters: \u201cWe\u2019re meeting families who feel collectively traumatised, who feel individually traumatised. Does anybody think that this is a good idea?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo right-minded person would make this decision. I still do not know the answer to this question \u2013 why, after 28 years of a determination to block a march down this road, the Parades Commission thought that this was the right idea today to bring this mess back on to this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local Democratic Unionist party (DUP) MP, Carla Lockhart, accused O\u2019Neill of \u201cwhipping up hysteria\u201d at an \u201cunlawful\u201d protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unreal that we have a first minister behaving the way she is behaving,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I did it, or if any of my colleagues did it, I would be in the back of a Land Rover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nationalist protesters gathered in Portadown. Photograph: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, said: \u201cWe now have lawmakers acting as law breakers,\u201d and he accused O\u2019Neill of \u201cgiving two fingers to the courts, the police, the rule of law\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Bryant, cut short his attendance at the Labour party conference in Liverpool to travel to Belfast, but said he did not have the powers to call the march off unless police formally requested him to do so. He said the nationalist protest was unlawful and called on politicians to \u201ccalm things down\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bryant said: \u201cIt is incumbent on everybody in political office to take this moment very, very seriously and to take the temperature down, to think twice before \u2026 inflating any argument and to think about what somebody else who doesn\u2019t share your opinion might think about the way you\u2019ve put your case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tense standoff also drew in the prime minister, Andy Burnham, who appealed for \u201ccalm on all sides\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Irish taoiseach, M\u00edche\u00e1l Martin, echoed that but described the Parades Commission decision as \u201cincomprehensible and wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n

Protesters hold banners on Garvaghy Road. Photograph: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

He called for the situation to be mediated sensibly in a way \u201cthat protects the gains that have been made and the peace and harmony that has prevailed for so long\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Drumcree parade on the Garvaghy Road \u2013 a Catholic enclave in a largely Protestant town \u2013 sparked some of the most serious and violent disorder in Northern Ireland\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Parades Commission granted permission subject to restrictions, including a limit of 35 participants, an 8am start time instead of 1pm, and that it should be held in silence.<\/p>\n

Nigel Dawson, known as the district master of Portadown Loyal Orange Lodge, speaks to a police officer. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The decision was challenged and blocked on Saturday by a judge, Justice Patricia Smyth, who said the \u201clong-running dispute has the potential to escalate\u201d across Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

That decision was then challenged by the Orange Order, leading to two further hearings on Saturday night and Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

The final, time-limited sitting, which began at 20 minutes past midnight on Sunday, was heard before Mr Justice Humphreys, who acknowledged the \u201cunusual if not unprecedented circumstances \u2026 with a parade scheduled to begin in just over six hours\u2019 time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Outlining his decision, Humphreys cited case law that as a public body the courts must respect the commission\u2019s judgment and \u201ctheir decisions will not be lightly interfered with\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of protesters spent the day blocking the route of a hugely contentious parade in Northern Ireland after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-784498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}