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PA Media / Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant says he will ban the Drumcree parade Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has said he will ban the Drumcree parade. The dispute has led to a stand-off between Orangemen and nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown lasting almost two weeks. Sir Chris said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable advised him "that it would not be possible to enable the procession to happen without a major intervention which would carry an unacceptable risk of serious injury, disorder and a wider contagion effect across Northern Ireland". Sir Chris had been coming under increasing pressure from Sinn Féin and the SDLP to stop the parade. The move comes on the 13th day of deadlock between residents and the local district lodge of the Orange Order. The Parades Commission ruled that the march could go ahead with restrictions in place. But the parade, from Drumcree Church into Portadown, did not happen due to a large protest on the Garvaghy Road. On Friday night, Sir Chris added: "The Parades Commission have also advised me that while ultimately a matter for the courts to determine, the commission is of the view that, in light of this current assessment by the chief constable, the original determination does not now have enduring legal effect. "Consequently, and in the interests of wider public interest and safety, I've come to the conclusion that the circumstances under which that decision was made have now changed considerably," he said. "As a result, the procession cannot go ahead as it was determined." Under legislation, a secretary of state can overturn a Parades Commission determination, especially following some form of input from the PSNI. What did the residents say? Speaking outside a community centre on the Garvaghy Road on Friday night, Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition spokesman Breandán Mac Cionnaith said that "while this is a win for us tonight, it is one that is still tinged with sadness and with loss". "There's no real cause for celebration that we have to remember the price that was paid for to get this decision over many years." Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said the overwhelming sense on the road was "one of relief and one of joy", adding that this "awful threat and this sense of menace has been lifted from the community". "To have had the prospect of a march down the road was just incomprehensible, nobody could believe that this decision had been landed and the community said from the get go that they would stand strong and united and that they would not have it and they have. Right has won out here." Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said in a post on social media that the announcement by Sir Chris "will come as a significant relief to the community on the Garvaghy Road". "It will also be a relief to people in communities right across Northern Ireland, and the island of Ireland as a whole, who were concerned that the situation at Drumcree, if left unresolved, could have had lasting negative repercussions on community relations and reconciliation," he said. DUP reaction Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson said in a statement that "it has been clear in recent days that due to the actions of Sinn Féin and the total disregard for the recent determination in favour of a parade that the PSNI cannot ensure the safe completion of the parade". "The decision of the chief constable to refer the matter to the secretary of state and his conclusion that the parade cannot proceed is a direct result of republican agitation, mobilisation and the looming threats of potential violence," Robinson said. "These decisions are a mistake, and send profound signals that the country should be run on force of numbers and who shouts the loudest." Thirteen days of deadlock There have been 13 days of deadlock in Portadown since the decision to allow an Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road on Sunday, 27 September. That morning, up to 1,000 people - including politicians such as Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill - blocked the road, preventing Orangemen marching from Drumcree Church a mile to the west. Since then, residents have maintained a constant presence around the road while Orangemen have also repeatedly tried to march the route before being turned back by police. The Chief Constable, Jon Boutcher, had said last week that the consequences of police forcing an Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road "could be catastrophic". He had said while the PSNI's objective was to facilitate the determination, this could not be done "at all costs". As of last Thursday, the policing operation over the dispute had cost about £3m. Two weeks ago exactly, the Parades Commission issued a determination saying that the Orange Order parade was to be allowed on the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown with restrictions in place. That prompted a legal challenge from the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition which opposed the march. The Court of Appeal is considering whether to allow a challenge to the Parades Commission's ruling, which has been lodged by residents.

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  • 发布时间：2026/10/10 04:06:38