A Sinn Fein MLA has called on Portadown District No 1 to “stop what they are doing” and “not to reopen old wounds” in relation to Drumcree as the Parades Commission prepares to make a decision on Sunday’s proposed procession along the Garvaghy Road.
Upper Bann Assemblyman John O’Dowd was speaking on the floor on the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday after a joint statement from residents’ groups warned that Drumcree had the potential to see other deals struck on disputed routes “unravel”.
Local DUP MP Carla Lockhart, meanwhile, has accused Sinn Fein of “living in the 1990s”, adding that the residents’ group “strategy” may have worked then but “won’t now”.
The Parades Commission is due to consider and make a determination in the coming days ahead of Sunday’s proposed parade.
Portadown District has applied for permission for a parade of 60 Orangemen accompanied by two bands along the disputed section of the Garvaghy Road from Drumcree Church. If successful, it would be the first time since 1998 that an Orange Order march has been allowed there.
Earlier this month, Portadown District had hailed what it described as a “significant and unprecedented” development in the long‑running Drumcree dispute, saying the Parades Commission had now agreed to initiate a formal mediation process.
It said it had “swiftly confirmed” its agreement to participate in talks “without precondition” and urged Sinn Féin and residents’ representatives to now engage.
In the Assembly on Monday, Sinn Fein’s John O’Dowd called for the Orange Order to review its application to parade.
He said: “In the past 24 hours or so, residents’ groups from across the North that have previously been involved in issues around Orange Order marches and band parades have issued a statement in solidarity with the residents of the Garvaghy Road. That statement illustrates once again that it is not a local issue, as some would have us believe or would hope, that can be dealt with without consequences for other parading issues.
“The residents are clear in their statement that they express solidarity with the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition (GRRC) and the residents of that area and that they see it as an issue that impacts across the North. They also express their concerns that there may be an intention among some people in political unionism, the Orange Order and marching bands to reopen what were once seen to be settled parades across the North.
“I hope that that is not the case, because those of us who have experience of the past understand that the resolutions to parading issues across the North were hard won. They came about through accommodations between residents and the loyal orders and bands at local level. They are of precious value and have benefited us all in moving forward.
“I appeal once again to those who are behind the proposed parade to stop what they are doing; to allow the past 28 years of relative peace to be protected and advanced; and not to reopen old wounds.
“There is no requirement for an Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road or to open up parading issues across the North. The 11 residents’ groups that have made the statement are clear in their views. There can be no return to the mistakes of the past.”
Local MP Carla Lockhart, meanwhile has accused Sinn Fein of resorting to a “failed residents group strategy as the reality dawns that Drumcree is no longer a closed or settled issue”.
She called on “nationalists and republicans to abandon the politics of threats” and “engage directly with Portadown District to secure a lasting, rights-based resolution”.
“The subtle threat from Sinn Fein run residents’ groups to reopen parading ‘accommodation’ demonstrates just how little they understand about the present legal context,” added Ms Lockhart.
“Firstly, unionist rights do not persist only by the grace and favour of nationalists or republicans, nor are they delimited by residents groups; secondly, and most importantly, those accommodations properly understood represent the voluntarily limiting of the exercise of their rights by Orangemen.
“If Sinn Fein want to open up those issues again then they would need to understand that, if Orangemen are minded to just seek to have the law properly applied, then the outcome will be very much contrary to the current compromises Sinn Fein benefit from.
“It’s time nationalists and republicans came to the table, and engaged with the Portadown District to find a lasting resolution which balances the rights of all sections of society. The days of ‘unionism must give, and nationalism must get’ are over, and the sooner that realisation dawns, the closer we will be to making real progress.”
Read more on the Drumcree dispute coverage here.
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