Parades Commission expected to rule today on scaled-back Drumcree march
The Parades Commission is expected to rule on Friday on whether 60 Orange Order members may march along the Garvaghy Road on Sunday, after final consultations on Wednesday.
The Parades Commission is expected to rule today on whether the Orange Order may march along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown this Sunday, after holding final consultations on Wednesday.
The commission met separately with the Orange Order and political parties including the DUP and Sinn Fein, following earlier talks with the Alliance Party, the SDLP, the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and the Loyalist Communities Council. It is deciding on an application for what the Order describes as a “limited” procession on 27 September: 60 members wearing collarettes in a silent march beginning at 13:00 BST at Drumcree church and concluding by 14:30 at Carleton Street in Portadown town centre — substantially scaled back from the traditional 400 participants and two bands.
The ruling comes after a High Court judge quashed the commission’s most recent determination over the march last month, finding it had not followed its own rules and procedures. The commission has blocked the Order from marching along the Garvaghy Road every July since 1998, and the Drumcree dispute dominated Northern Ireland headlines in the 1990s amid violent clashes and major security operations.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who led a delegation to meet the commission on Wednesday afternoon, called the decision an “opportunity” to win the confidence of the unionist community and described the engagement as “positive”. A Loyalist Communities Council spokesperson said members had restated that there would be no violence or public disorder arising from the dispute.
Sources
- Clacton and Frinton Gazette (PA): https://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/national/26576052.drumcree-decision-opportunity-gain-confidence-unionist-community/?ref=rss
- The UK Pulse: https://www.theukpulse.co.uk/news/uk/parades-commission-to-decide-on-contested-drumcree-orange-order-march
- Perspective Media: https://www.perspectivemedia.com/drumcree-decision-opportunity-to-gain-confidence-of-unionist-community
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