Opiniondrumcree standoff

The return of an Orange parade to the Garvaghy Road has reopened old wounds after 28 years, and has exposed the deep political and community divisions that remain.

LAST UPDATE | 28 Sep

IN THE BATTLES of peace there are some issues that cannot be resolved with ‘a bit for you and a bit for me’. The long-running Drumcree marching dispute is one such issue.

This morning, I rolled my eyes as I listened to a news clip of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant – newly appointed by fresh PM Andy Burnham. The clip was recorded on Sunday night, including these words: “We haven’t got a solution yet.”

He misses the point. He clearly doesn’t understand. Chris Bryant hasn’t been here long enough to grasp the complexities of these things.

British PM Andy Burnham (centre left) with his Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant (centre right) in Belfast in August. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

After 28 long years, there was permission for a much-reduced Orange parade – without bands and music – to pass along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown early on Sunday morning. It would have been the completion of the return leg of a parade blocked in 1998, but it didn’t happen.

Hundreds of protesters on the predominantly nationalist part of the route stood in its way – stood there from Saturday, through Sunday and into today.

As I watched the live television coverage and listened in, I thought about everything being on the line again – policing, politics, community relations and so much more.

I could also hear the tone being set for the election battles of 2027.

DUP MP Carla Lockhart speaks to a PSNI officer close to Drumcree Church in Portadown, Co Armagh, following an intense day-long stand-off in the Drumcree parading dispute, Sunday. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The decision makers had clearly underestimated the response. The police (the PSNI now approaching its 25th birthday in November) were put in an impossible position. One officer called it a “shit show”.

The only way to have cleared the road would have been to force people – including many elected representatives – off it. It had all the potential to recreate the nightmare of 1997 when a massive security operation – police and army – made a path for the parade, and made politics even more difficult.

Any repeat of that would have been disastrous.

In a statement this morning, the chair of the police federation – which represents all ranks through to chief inspector – described “incredible restraint and professionalism”.

That statement from Liam Kelly continued: “The bottom line is no one was hurt. There was no rioting. Thankfully, no officers or protesters or Orange Order members sustained injury. That is success in my book. From a policing perspective, it was a job well done.”

The big damage is at the political level; the cutting shrapnel obvious in every angry word. Unionists have their eyes on Sinn Féin – on First Minister Michelle O’Neill – and on the protest that blocked the way of the planned parade.

Orange men gather near Drumcree Church as police form a barricade to prevent them entering the Garvaghy Road, where members of the Orange Order were due to take part in the first return parade. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

SDLP representatives, including leader Claire Hanna, were on the Garvaghy Road on Sunday. People Before Profit were there, including Stormont MLA Gerry Carroll. And the Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald was also present with many of the party’s Dáil representatives. There was a mood that meant there would be no parade, no matter how small.

Unionists are furious that the march was blocked by protest. Angry also about the New Ireland conversation which they feel is being forced down their throats, and they will view the events of Sunday as making a mockery of any suggestion of a shared future.

All of this is the latest predicament in the politics of the North – the “shit show” that was described to me on Sunday.

The Parades Commission is in the spotlight, with a question about what has changed in the past 28 years to allow a parade at Drumcree – and to explain the logic and the reasons of its decision. 

First Minister of NI Michelle O'Neill and SInn Fein Party President Mary Lou McDonald at a protest where over two thousand people have gathered near Drumcree on Sunday morning. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The 1998 Drumcree dispute became one of the most serious flashpoints of that time, when the Orange Order sought to march on the Garvaghy Road, leading to a 12-day stand-off and widespread protests and violence. Tensions intensified after the firebombing of a Catholic home in Ballymoney that killed three young brothers, Jason, Mark and Richard Quinn. On Sunday, I re-read my archive file from 1998 – the diary pages of days and nights in Drumcree, the logging of detail of that murder and mayhem in the marching madness. 

The events yesterday, Sunday, are not just about yesterday. As always there is history; hurts and reminders of the once hell of this place.

A reminder also of the importance of decisions in the here and now, and for the need to understand the many pulses that yesterday raced to danger levels.

In all of this, there is a reminder of what hasn’t been achieved in the peace and of the deep trenches and the issues that are still part of the fight.