Protestors remain on Garvaghy Road as Drumcree parade dispute continues

Protestors remain on the Garvaghy Road as the Drumcree parade dispute continues.

The main parties involved in the dispute in Northern Ireland are still in a stalemate, following a day of political talks and heated exchanges at Stormont.

Talks to resolve the issue took place on Monday as members of the Orange Order waited to begin their permitted parade, which was due to take place on Sunday morning, and walk down the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

Orangemen have also maintained a presence at Drumcree church, but they are smaller in number than previous days.

About 30 to 50 protestors have been sitting roadside on a grass verge throughout most of Tuesday, but traffic has flowed freely.

A gazebo has been set up, with tea, coffee and snacks available and many of the residents and supporters have deck chairs.

Meanwhile, a small group of about 10 people gathered at Drumcree church on Tuesday morning.

Orange Order Deputy District Master Alister Power said he had told police they were ready to march down the Garvaghy Road whenever it was safe to do so.

He said he had been invited to a second round of talks at Hillsborough Castle with the secretary of state later this afternoon.

A low key police presence remains in place 100m from the church, with just one land rover in place, but there is no visible police presence on the Garvaghy Road.

He said his mother spoke to her children about her job a lot and told them she was "helping families like our own".

"She tried her best to make you feel safe even though there was uncertainty in the back of your head," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Nelson has never spoken publicly about his mother's death.

He feels now is the time to do so because "if she were here she would want me to be here and she would be standing on that road".

Now a father-of-two himself, and married to Sinn Féin councillor Catherine Nelson, he said he did not want any child "worrying or concerned" and said it was like it was "happening all over again".

He said his message to representatives was to "think about the children on both sides".

"This comes from a child who went through it, who experienced it, whose life it impacted. Do whatever needs to be done to protect them," he said.

He added that he was "very worried" about the current situation as "I know how badly it escalated and what the repercussions were in many cases".

Protesters blocked the road over the weekend, and after a meeting with the Northern Ireland secretary, a representative of the road's residents said the Orange Order should focus on a different route.

On Sunday, protesters on the Garvaghy Road were joined by members of Sinn Féin, including First Minister Michelle O'Neill, and the Social Democratic Labour Party.

The Democratic Unionist Party subsequently accused O'Neill of acting unlawfully.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant said "nobody should be attending an unlawful protest", but he added it was not his job "to decide whether somebody has or hasn't broken the law".

Speaking in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday, O'Neill said she was proud to protest with the residents.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said a "dedicated enquiry team" had been established, which was currently reviewing evidence gathered and "anyone who has broken the law will be investigated".

The Portadown District of the Orange Order has also lodged a complaint with the Chief Constable in relation to O'Neill and Sinn Féin president Mary-Lou McDonald's attendance.

The Orange Order, the most prominent of the loyal orders associated with Protestants in Northern Ireland, holds thousands of parades every year and the vast majority pass off without incident.

However, many Catholics see the marches as sectarian and object to them passing through, or close to, Catholic or nationalist areas.

The Garvaghy Road had been part of the Drumcree route, but by the mid 1990s nationalist residents protested against the parade. The row sparked some of the most serious public disorder in Northern Ireland's history and was linked to several murders.

The row reemerged after a court case in which a ruling by the Parades Commission - the organisation formed during the Drumcree dispute to decide on contentious marches during Northern Ireland's parading season - was overturned.

On Friday, following 28 years of unsuccessful applications, the commission decided the march could go ahead with restrictions in place.

Rather than start at 13:00 on Sunday as intended, the commission said it could begin no later than 08:00 and with 35 participants rather than the 60 the Orange Order requested.

However that decision was challenged in several Belfast courts on Saturday, before finally being given the go ahead just hours before it was due to take place.

The Drumcree dispute was one of Northern Ireland's most serious parading disputes during the 1990s, when stand-offs over attempts by the Orange Order to march along the Garvaghy Road were accompanied by riots, roadblocks and killings.

When the Orange Order was prevented by police from walking down the route in July 1995, there was a tense stand-off. It was the same for the next three years.

Violence related to the dispute resulted in riots, roadblocks and murders across Northern Ireland.

In 1998, the newly-established Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down the road - a decision upheld until Friday.