Northern Ireland is once again looking into the abyss of sectarian violence. Since the early hours of this Sunday, hundreds of residents and supporters have gathered at various points on Garvaghy Road, a street that runs from north to south through the predominantly Catholic neighborhood of the city of Portadown, to prevent the passage of the Protestant parade of members of the Orange Order of Dumcree.
A judicial decision, taken at two-thirty in the morning (one hour later in Spanish peninsular time) gave the green light to a march that had been prohibited for almost three decades, and which was historically the focus of extreme confrontations and terrorist murders during the most tense years of the so-called troubles, which devastated the north of the island.
"The police in Northern Ireland must intervene to prevent this. It is crazy. It is a primitive way of treating a community, in the middle of 2026. It is intolerable," claimed Mary Lou McDonald, the president of the Sinn Féin republican party, a supporter of the reunification of the island, who has urgently traveled to Portadown to express her support to the residents. Traveling with her was the vice president of the party and chief minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, who has held that position since the beginning of the year. It is the first time in the history of the autonomous government, since the 1998 peace agreements, that the Republicans control the leadership of the Northern Irish Executive.
The Parades Commission, a semi-judicial body created precisely as a result of the violent incidents caused by the Drumcree parade in the past, finally authorized this year for the march to resume.
Although its decision was overturned by a first court ruling, an appeals court has finally given the green light to the organizers to go ahead with their plans, although under very strict conditions. Only 35 members of the Orange Order could parade, and not the 60 that had originally been requested. They could not have companions during their journey, nor use the usual drums and other musical instruments common in these parades.
Up to 4,000 of these marches are held annually in Northern Ireland, especially in the hottest and brightest season, which runs from April to August. Protestants commemorate the victory of William of Orange over the Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. For decades, many of these displays were considered a supremacist and sectarian demonstration by the Catholic community, and many of them led to serious violent clashes.
Calls for calm
As residents and supporters gathered on Garvaghy Road, hundreds of Police of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers, with riot gear and armored vehicles, were preparing for the possibility of violent clashes. Using megaphones, they insistently demanded that the protesters clear the road, and informed them that their protest was illegal, as it had not been previously communicated to the authorities.
But so far, PSNI leadership has avoided ordering a forced eviction. What he has done is inform the parade participants, gathered at the Drumcree church, north of the Catholic neighborhood, that they could not begin marching because the street was still blocked. They were supposed to start walking at eight in the morning (local time), but everything has been paralyzed, in a kind of temporary truce, while tempers on both sides have been heating up.
Unionist politicians backing the parade have accused Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill of flouting the law by siding with residents blocking the street and backing an illegal demonstration. Both she and McDonald, the president of Sinn Féin, have complained about Andy Burnham's British Government; his Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant; and the PSNI leadership to revoke the court decision and ban the parade.
Burnham has appealed to all parties to remain calm and respect the law. Bryant has denied that he has the authority to stop the parade, especially if the PSNI does not expressly ask him to do so, something that has not happened.
