Huge crowds turn out in support of residents over Drumcree parade dispute

Rallies were held in Portadown on both sides of the Drumcree parade dispute on Saturday as the stand-off between Garvaghy Road residents and the Orange Order continues.

Addressing thousands of people at an event on the Garvaghy Road, First Minister and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill said she heard the Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant "talk about being between a rock and a hard place", adding she has "never heard such nonsense, this is between right and wrong".

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said anyone blocking the Garvaghy Road will be "treated as participating in an unnotified and therefore illegal protest and that anyone "found to have broken the law will face criminal justice consequences".

Speaking at Drumcree church, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart repeated calls for PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and his officers to "do their job" and facilitate the parade, describing the current impasse as "mob rule".

For most of the afternoon stewards in high visibility jackets kept people off the Garvaghy Road and those attending were told it was important to allow traffic to flow freely.

However, by 15:00 BST the crowd was so large that they were standing on the road as police closed it to traffic.

The fallout over the proposed Orange Order march - which is opposed by residents of the Garvaghy Road - has lasted since Sunday morning after the Parades Commission's decision that the Orange Order parade could go ahead with restrictions.

Protesters have remained on Garvaghy Road and the Orange Order has maintained a presence at Drumcree Church after talks to end the parading dispute ended without agreement on Thursday.

A fresh legal bid by the residents to prevent the march was due to be heard on Friday - but has now been postponed until Monday.

O'Neill told the crowds on Saturday that "if this British government isn't prepared to end this crisis, then it's up to the thousands here, to collectively stand with the Garvaghy Road residents".

She said: "We will stand shoulder to shoulder for as long as it takes."

In a post of social media, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the "behaviour of Michelle O'Neill and her party has been disgraceful" and a "complete abdication of leadership".

She added: "The full weight of the law must be applied. Unionism must not lower itself to provocation or hate - all should remain calm."

Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Jon Burrows, said the scenes at the Garvaghy Road on Saturday "represent a serious failure of political leadership".

"It was a carnival of law-breaking and triumphalism," he said.

Former SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly spoke at the rally and said: "Never again did we think we'd be on the Garvaghy Road again to say no going back and no Orange Order parades in the Garvaghy Road."

A smaller event was also held in the Edgarstown area of Portadown in support of the Orange Order.

Speaking to BBC News NI at Drumcree, Lockhart said there could be "repercussions for a very long time if mob rule wins over the rule of law".

Asked if we had stepped back from the "abyss" cited by both Lockhart and a High Court Judge in reference to last week's court proceedings, Lockhart was firm that no progress had yet been made.

"No, we need the police service to step up and do their job. I do think if the real residents step forward we can and should discuss further options and resolutions, because we do want to see this resolved," Lockhart said.

Liam McDonald travelled from south Armagh and said it was important for him to be at the Garvaghy Road.

"The majority of people in Ireland, right across the island, don't want any more of this. They don't want to see any more trouble or strife or anything like that.

"How they're going to solve this, I would love to know the answer, but I don't. And I think a lot of people are in the same boat. They don't know what the answer is to it. But it has to be solved."

Noah Bell attended the Edgarstown event in support of the Portadown District and said he believed the situation was "really worrying" and wanted the parade to be allowed to proceed.

"I think the determination should be upheld. The law's on our side and that lawful determination must be upheld and the parade allowed to go through."

Frances McGowan said she wanted to show her support for people on the Garvaghy Road and did not want to see a return to the past.

"I remember back, it was awful times. Really frightening things as well, so we do not want to return under any circumstances.

"Especially for the younger generation, we don't want to go back through the dark, dark days."

Jonathan Jackson, who is a member of the Orange Order, said he attended the Edgarstown rally because he believed in his culture and was proud of his identity.

"For me, as a young Protestant unionist, it does begin to feel like a cold house for me in my own country.

"So I think obviously you can look back and maybe seems like an older person's issue, but I do think this is a civil liberties issue."

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant said he was "concerned at the prolonged standoff" which he said was "ultimately in nobody's interests".

"I have been working with all those involved to find a mutually acceptable solution," he said in a social media post on Saturday.

He said he was grateful to those engaging in dialogue, adding that it was "a crucial time" for Northern Ireland and he hoped compromise could be found.

A spokesperson for Fianna Fáil said Taoiseach (Irish President) Micheál Martin believes "now is a time for us to be calm and careful in what we say".

Drumcree was one of Northern Ireland's most serious parading disputes, 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.

In 1998, the newly-established Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down the road - a decision that was upheld for the past 28 years.

The row re-emerged last month after a court case in which a ruling by the Parades Commission was overturned, and a fresh application to parade was lodged.

Last Friday, the commission decided that the march could go ahead with restrictions in place.

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.