Talks continue to resolve the Drumcree parade dispute

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On Sunday, an Orange Order parade from Drumcree into Portadown did not happen because a large gathering from the local community blocked the route through the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road.

Protesters have remained on the Garvaghy Road ever since to stop the march through their community.

The Orange Order have also maintained a presence in the area, at Drumcree church, around a mile away.

During talks on Wednesday, both sides were asked to consider a document from Britain’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Sir Chris Bryant.

The document reportedly said that the Orange Order had the legal right to walk the Garvaghy Road, the residents would accept that legal entitlement and publicly accept that it was wrong to block the Orange Order from walking down the Garvaghy Road, but in return the Orange Order would choose not to walk down the road anyway.

Breandan Mac Cionnaith said that the Garvaghy Road Resident’s Coalition said the document had been discussed and added: “Let’s say if it’s accepted by the Orange Order, it’ll be accepted by us.”

Mr Mac Cionnaith said that he was not going to discuss what was contained in the proposals aimed at securing a deal.

He said the document was on the table for discussion and “I am not going to do anything to jeopardise that, by speaking publicly on it.”

He said that it was a “discussion document and there will be discussions around it.”

But Carla Lockhart, the Democratic Unionist MP for Upper Bann, said the document was “not acceptable.”

Addressing a loyalist rally in Portadown on Wednesday evening, Ms Lockhart said they would not accept any deal that sees them “walk away” from their right to parade down the Garvaghy Road.

The Upper Bann MP said that the Orange Order has the “legal right to walk on the Garvaghy Road.”

Sir Chris said all participants had been “very frank with each other, open and honest” which he believed was the best way to get to a “successful resolution.”

The Garvaghy Road had been part of the Drumcree route, but after protests by residents the Orange Order was prevented by police from walking down the route in July 1995.

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

But last month the commission gave the green light for the march to go ahead with restrictions.

Northern Ireland / 29 September 2026 British government calls for Drumcree ‘compromise’ 29 September 2026 Northern Ireland / 28 September 2026 The days of unionist ‘supremacy’ are gone, says Northern Ireland's First Minister 28 September 2026 Editorial / 27 September 2026 Why the Garvaghy Road crisis matters for both Britain and Ireland 27 September 2026 ‘Reviving the Garvaghy Road route for an Orange Order parade after 28 years, when it was a focal point of lethal violence back in the 1990s, looks like a bid to take us backwards too’