Bryant calls for calm over the weekend as Drumcree dispute continues

Talks aimed at resolving the stand-off between the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents hosted by Sir Chris finished without agreement late on Thursday night.

The impasse has been ongoing since the Parades Commission last week gave the green light for the first time in almost 30 years for the Portadown District of the unionist Orange Order – backed by the DUP and TUV – to its complete traditional route along the Garvaghy Road.

However, a coalition of residents in the largely nationalist area – backed by Sinn Féin, the SDLP and People Before Profit – is opposed to the march going ahead and took legal action which failed before starting a six-day protest to prevent the parade from taking place.

A fresh legal appeal by the residents is set to be heard in the Court of Appeal on Monday.

Police have said a major public safety operation will continue in Portadown over the weekend.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said police “will do everything we can to maintain order and ensure the safety of everyone in that area”.

He said their investigation into anyone suspected of breaking the law related to this dispute is “continuing at pace”.

Two men have already been interviewed under caution for common assault and disorderly behaviour in Belfast on September 28, while two others appeared in court on Thursday charged with various offences allegedly committed in Portadown on September 27 and 30.

He also thanked police officers from England and Scotland who have been in Northern Ireland supporting the PSNI’s efforts over the past week.

“We are continuing to seek safe and peaceful compliance with the Parades Commission determination and our officers are regularly engaging with all stakeholders,” he said.

“Finally, I want to repeat the Chief Constable’s appeal for calm and for all parties to refocus efforts on working to find a lasting resolution to this issue.”

In a message on X on Friday afternoon, Sir Chris wrote that his door remains open for talks.

“Everyone across Northern Ireland wants a peaceful resolution to the situation in Portadown,” he said.

“I’m continuing to work to find a mutually acceptable agreement and I’m grateful to everyone who has offered help and has taken part in the discussions so far.

“My door remains open and I repeat my calls for people to support further compromise.”

He called for calm across the weekend, and against calls for people to go into the area at a time of tension.

“I would especially urge calm this weekend. I would also encourage people to ignore calls for more people to come to the area at this time of tension,” he added.

“Such calls are unhelpful and are likely to put further strain on police resources which are already stretched.”

Earlier, DUP leader Gavin Robinson backed the importance of talks and stressed that the rule of law must be upheld.

Speaking to media in Belfast on Friday, Mr Robinson welcomed the criminal investigation under way into potential law-breaking around the dispute, claiming “too many people … have acted in a deeply reckless way”.

Mr Robinson added: “It is important that those talks continue and that if there is a mediated resolution to be found that it is reached grounded on the rule of law.

“I think very clearly when you have people who are lawmakers who are acting as lawbreakers, who have clearly frustrated the will of a statutory body and the Court of Appeal, then there should be consequences for those, and that will have to come.

“The Chief Constable has now launched a major criminal investigation, and that major criminal investigation needs to be given the space to do its work.

“I expect to see that work commence next week but it needs space to conclude as well.”

Justice Minister Naomi Long urged Orange Order members to “do the right thing”, saying they had the legal right to complete their march along the Garvaghy Road, but suggested doing so may not be wise.

She described people across Northern Ireland as feeling “despair” at the reawakening of the tensions in Portadown on the sixth day of the standoff which has cost £3 million to police.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill hailed a joint letter from a group of people from a Protestant background, now signed by 480, calling for the impasse to be brought to an end.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary Owen Reidy called for the “hard-won peace” to be protected, and described “those who seek to undermine” as “unwelcome echoes of the past”.

Former US special envoy to Northern Ireland Dr Richard Haass said he was disappointed but not surprised at the current situation, saying the region “has not done a very good job at dealing with these issues”.

“One of the thing I tried to do in my last diplomatic effort was to get people to come to terms with the legacy of the past, and Northern Ireland has failed to do that, and you have a whole new generation coming of age that has not learned an authoritative or balanced history,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.

“Some people are romanticising the ‘good old days’ when things like this happened. I think this is a reminder that if you don’t deal with things, they don’t get better.”

On Thursday night, Loyalist activist and legal adviser to the Orangemen Jamie Bryson said they will accept the determination of the legal appeal on Monday as he challenged residents of Garvaghy Road to commit to walking away if their bid fails.

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, told reporters the Secretary of State wants residents and the Orange Order to reach agreement but contended that “the reality is” there is “no such thing as half a march”.

Meanwhile, the open letter signed by 480 people of a Protestant background told Sir Chris and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee of distress.

They said while they recognise that the Portadown District regards Drumcree as unfinished business, they are “distressed by the trauma that is being visited on the residents of the Garvaghy Road after 28 years of calm”.

“We appeal to the Orange Order to look towards the bigger picture and bring this impasse to an end in the interests of our entire community,” they said.

“We urge the British and Irish Governments to act together and without delay: to restore stability, to ensure that the parading framework is robust and trusted, and to spare the residents of the Garvaghy Road a return to the fear they endured for so many summers.

“This is a time when all of us committed to a better future have a responsibility to raise our voices to protect peace, progress and a shared society free from sectarianism.

“We must avoid the abyss we are currently staring into.

“For the future of our children and grandchildren, we cannot go backwards.”

The signatories include former Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn, Presbyterian Minister Rev David Latimer and former DUP adviser Wallace Thompson.