Portadown District LOL has hailed what it describes as a “significant and unprecedented” development in the long‑running Drumcree dispute, claiming the Parades Commission has now agreed to initiate a formal mediation process.
In a statement issued on Friday, the District said the Commission had written to them on Thursday afternoon to “accept our longstanding request that they initiate mediation and appoint an independent mediator”.
The move comes in the same week Portadown District applied for a heavily scaled‑down, silent Drumcree church parade involving 60 men and no bands along the contested section of the Garvaghy Road on Sunday, September 27 – the first such bid in more than 28 years.
Portadown District said it had “swiftly confirmed” its agreement to participate in talks “without precondition” and urged Sinn Féin and residents’ representatives to now engage.
“In a significant and unprecedented shift in position, the Parades Commission yesterday afternoon wrote to us to – after many years – accept our longstanding request that they initiate mediation and appoint an independent mediator,” the statement read.
“We have swiftly confirmed our agreement to participate in talks without precondition, and call on Sinn Fein and residents to now finally abandon their obstinate refusal to address this longstanding and seminal issue via dialogue.
“It is welcome this matter is now very much on the table and we stand ready to go into the talks process immediately.”
The District said the independent chair of any mediation process “must be evidentially independent, and able to command the support of all participants”.
“We would expect consultation on this issue in the coming days. In our view, the independent chair should be someone with judicial experience, given the issue being considered is at its heart one of human rights law,” it added.
Re‑framing the dispute in terms of competing rights, the Order insisted it was not seeking to have its position “prevail” over that of those opposed to the march, but argued that residents’ rights could not continue to override theirs.
“This is not about the rights of our District prevailing over the rights of those who oppose us, but nor is it sustainable that the rights of those who oppose us can continue to prevail over our rights,” the statement continued.
“We want to see a proportionate balancing of rights based on respect, inclusion and accommodation which must be at the heart of a rights‑based society with equality of treatment for everyone.”
Nationalist representatives, including Sinn Féin councillor Catherine Nelson, have already branded the new bid a “dangerous attempt” to restart what they describe as “unwanted” parades on the Garvaghy Road, insisting the issue is “closed”.
Related: Drumcree bid a ‘dangerous attempt’ to restart unwanted Garvaghy Road parades
