Sinn Féin leaders have condemned as “utterly reckless” the Parades Commission’s decision to allow a tightly‑restricted Orange Order parade along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road – as a High Court challenge against the ruling gets under way this evening (Friday).
The determination, which permits Portadown District LOL No 1 to walk the controversial stretch of its traditional Drumcree return route for the first time in 28 years under strict conditions, has sparked a furious political backlash and deep anxiety among residents on the predominantly nationalist road.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said the ruling represented “a disgraceful and shocking decision” which, in her view, “shows a complete disregard for the rights of the community of the Garvaghy Road, of their absolute right to live free from sectarian harassment”.
“This is, make no mistake, an assault and a challenge to the Good Friday Agreement, to the building of peace, to all of the progress that has been made over decades and decades of effort – that is how serious this is,” she said.
“We are gobsmacked at the sheer and utter recklessness of it.”
Lawyers for residents are moving urgently to challenge the Parades Commission’s determination in the High Court in Belfast this evening (Friday).
Ms McDonald said “the first order of priority” for Sinn Féin was to see the Commission’s ruling “set aside” through the courts.
“We will see how the court process goes this evening,” she said. “But to be clear, either which way, responsible people now need to intervene and, frankly, put a stop to this.
“For now, the absolute priority is to stand with the people of the Garvaghy Road, to ensure that all of the levers of intervention are used to ensure that the Chief Constable, the Secretary of State, the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister intervene, do their job, stand by the people of the Garvaghy Road, stand by the Good Friday Agreement, and put a stop to this and overturn this determination.”
The Sinn Féin leader said she and colleagues had already been in contact with PSNI Chief Constable, Secretary of State, Taoiseach and Tánaiste, as well as other “stakeholders”, urging them to “stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of the Garvaghy Road”.
“I cannot overstate how utterly, utterly reckless, how utterly irresponsible, frankly how mindless this decision is,” she said.
“To us, it is unconscionable that elements that are intent on destruction, elements that are intent on division, those that still cling to the past and who wish to frustrate efforts for a peaceful future, that they would have any success in their endeavours.
“There are implications for the entire political and social environment in which all of us operate. That is how serious this is.”
She insisted the determination “cannot be turned back” on the community who, she said, had flourished over 28 years without the parade returning to the road.
“For 28 years, the community of the Garvaghy Road have enjoyed that right and have flourished when they have been given that respect and that space. That cannot be turned back. To us, it is unconscionable that there would be any step back from that.”
First Minister Michelle O’Neill echoed those concerns, questioning what justification the Parades Commission could have for departing from a position that effectively blocked Drumcree return parades from the road for nearly three decades.
“I think you ask a very good question,” she said of a reporter. “What has changed? This determination stood for 28 years, and when I read that determination today, I can’t see what changes that decision point,” she said.
“I think the residents are rightly angered; they’re shocked at the fact that determination has come the way that it has. But this is a community that has been building their community for the last 28 years. They are positive, they are forward‑looking.”
Ms O’Neill said residents had been “crystal clear from day one” that they do not want the parade on their road.
“Why do they want to reopen this parade? Why do they want to force themselves down the Garvaghy Road against the wishes of this community… who have rights too. They have rights to live free from intimidation and from sectarianism, and this is blatant sectarianism. There is no other way to dress it up.”
She warned of “real consequences for the Good Friday Agreement in its entirety”, but said Sinn Féin’s focus was on protecting progress.
“Everybody out there needs to remember there are people out there that want to drag us backwards. We in Sinn Féin are about the future. We’re about building on the progress of the last 28 years, and we will not allow those elements that want to drag us backwards.
“We will stand full square with the people of the Garvaghy Road. People would expect nothing less of us. The residents in the Garvaghy Road would expect nothing less of us.”
Ms McDonald said there would be “widespread” solidarity with Garvaghy Road residents if the parade proceeds, but stressed any response must remain peaceful.
“There is no doubt that the people across the north and beyond will come and gather in solidarity with the Garvaghy community. That will happen. I have no doubt,” she said.
“The community has made clear that they wish to see expressions of that solidarity, and we will stand foursquare with them.
“Of course, all actions must be calm, must be determined, and must be peaceful. We are asking people to calmly but resolutely stand on the side of the Garvaghy Road community, on the side of progress, on the side of the Good Friday Agreement, on the side of the future, and not to allow those forces of the past – destructive, divisive, sectarian forces – to drag us back.”
Describing the Commission’s ruling as “wrong on every level”, she added: “This goes to the heart of what we’re trying to build together. It goes to the heart also of exposing those who very blatantly want to sow division, who choose and want to intimidate people in their homes, who choose and want to march in places where they are not welcome.”
Read more: Parades Commission give green light for highly restricted Orange Order parade down Garvaghy Road
The Parades Commission’s determination permits a small, silent Orange Order parade to travel Garvaghy Road under stringent conditions for the first time since 1998, when the Commission first blocked the Drumcree return leg from re‑entering the nationalist estate.
Since then, Portadown District LOL No 1 has been prevented from using that part of its historic route and has complied with every determination – more than 1,300 in total – without associated disorder. The Commission, in its written reasons, noted the District’s “extensive measures” to minimise disruption, including drastically cutting numbers, excluding bands and agreeing to walk in silence.
But residents’ representatives have warned any return to Garvaghy Road – regardless of scale – risks reopening some of the most bitter wounds of the Troubles era, when stand‑offs at Drumcree and on the road itself were associated with serious violence and loss of life.
The Commission acknowledged in its decision the “genuine hurt” and intergenerational trauma among local residents, but stressed it was applying the legal framework to the specific facts of this notification and insisted the determination should not be seen as a “victory for one side or a loss for another”.
Sinn Féin, however, says the move represents a “step backwards” and a direct challenge to the guarantees of the Good Friday Agreement.
“We will not give way to the forces of the past, and we will not relinquish the progress that has been so hard won,” Ms McDonald said.
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