A pro-British march organized by the Orange Order is scheduled to take place through a predominantly Catholic area in Portadown, Northern Ireland, on Sunday. This marks the first time the march has been permitted in the area since 1997. The decision follows a court ruling that allowed the march to proceed after several legal challenges reached Belfast's High Court. Thirty-five members of the Orange Order will march silently along Garvaghy Road, without any accompanying bands or additional supporters.
Approximately 2,000 individuals gathered in the area on Sunday morning to participate in a counterprotest against the march. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham urged for calm, stating in a BBC interview that significant progress has been made in Northern Ireland and expressing a desire to avoid regression.
Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill, representing the Sinn Fein party, opposed the decision to allow the march, asserting that there is no turning back and expressing support for local residents protesting against what she termed an 'unwanted' and 'sectarian' event.
Carla Lockhart, an MP from the Democratic Unionist Party, defended the march, stating that local residents should not fear the presence of 'thirty-five men walking down a road silently and with no bands and in an orderly fashion.'
Garvaghy Road was a focal point during the conflict between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists in the late 1990s, with previous marches leading to significant unrest, known as the Drumcree dispute. The Parades Commission, established as part of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, has historically rejected the Orange Order's requests to march through the area. However, a recent High Court ruling overturned this rejection due to a procedural error, allowing the Order to submit a new application that was subsequently approved.