Orange Order granted permission to march down Garvaghy Road for first time since 1997

LAST UPDATE | 8 hrs ago

AN ORANGE ORDER parade is to be permitted to march down the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown for the first time in almost 30 years.

The Parades Commission adjudication body has granted permission for Orange Order members to take part in a Drumcree parade on 27 September, after it blocked the order from marching along the Garvaghy Road in July every year since 1998.

The commission has placed a number of restrictions on the procession.

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill said she “strongly condemns” the decision, while DUP leader Gavin Robinson has welcomed it.

Residents living on Garvaghy Road recently said they will “mobilise” and “come together” if the parade is allowed to march through their community.

The Drumcree parade dominated headlines in the 1990s when violent clashes and political tension necessitated a major security operation for several summers, as Garvaghy Road residents rejected the march passing through the community.

A number of people were killed during tensions in the 90s linked to the dispute.

An Orange Order lodge in Portadown had applied for 60 members to take part in a proposed procession from Drumcree Church on Sunday.

The application for Sunday’s parade was made following a High Court case earlier this year that exposed a series of process errors in how the commission made previous determinations on the Garvaghy Road parade.

Today’s permission is accompanied by a number of restrictions, including an 8am start time and limiting the number of participants to 35 people – a reduction from the application from the Portadown District of the Orange Order who proposed 60 Orange Order members take part in the procession on Sunday.

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The conditions also include that the parade must disperse from Carleton Street Orange Hall no later than 9.30am, and that only the Portadown District banner may be carried or displayed during the Garvaghy Road section.

No supporters are to accompany the parade or congregate along the parade route or near homes on the Dungannon Road and Drumcree Road, and no bands may participate.

The determination was issued following extensive submissions around the route. 

The residents met with politicians in Dublin’s Leinster House on Thursday ahead of a Parades Commission ruling on Sunday’s proposed march.

Asked what they will do if the parade goes ahead, Linda O’Neill of the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition said: “Our plan is that the parade will not go down the road.”

O’Neill, a youth worker, said the community is also concerned over a large gathering of bands in the town on Saturday night.

She added: “So, Monday morning when we wake up, regardless of whether that parade gets down the road, there will be consequences for our community.

“If the decision doesn’t go our way, this community will then mobilise, come together, and come up with a plan b.

“But we’re not there right now. We are trying to believe in the process – but be under no illusions: We have been let down before.”

Michelle O’Neill said she “strongly condemns” the decision by the Parades Commission to “force an Orange march through the Garvaghy Road community”.

“There is no reasonable or logical basis for the Parades Commission’s announcement that permission has been granted to force an unwanted Orange march through the Garvaghy Road community this Sunday,” she said.

“For 28 years, the Garvaghy Road community has lived in peace and the people of that community have been able to get on with their lives.

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“28 years of peace was not a problem that required a solution. It was a peace that needed to be protected.”

DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who welcomed the Parades Commission decision, said in a statement: “This is a significant and long-overdue breakthrough for Portadown District and the wider unionist community.”

“We are in 2026 and Orangemen walking silently and peacefully down a road should not be a major issue in a shared society.

“For 28 years, Orangemen have been prevented from completing their traditional church parade. Throughout that period, Portadown District complied with every determination, rejected violence and consistently offered dialogue and mediation.

“The commission has now explicitly recognised that the police have no information indicating that this peaceful parade will result in disorder or violence.

“That is an important finding, particularly after days of irresponsible language about ‘mobilisation’ and potential disorder.

“While the severe restrictions on numbers, timing and bands will require careful consideration, the fundamental position has changed. The Garvaghy Road is no longer closed to Portadown District.

“Those participating will walk peacefully and with dignity. Others must respond in the same spirit.”

Claire Hanna, SDLP leader, said that she was “stunned” by the decision.

“When I presented to the Commission this week, I made clear the views I’d heard from across the community and that there was no material change in the circumstances which had been adjudicated on in the past, other than the Commission having been caught out in a procedural bungle. Those concerns cannot simply be set aside,” Hanna said.

“This application has been cheerled by people who have incessantly pushed division and provocation. These will be challenging days, but those of us shocked and dismayed by this decision must work hard to remain calm and to keep order.”