Tensions run high in Northern Ireland after contentious march given green light

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Thousands of protesters gathered to block the marchers from the Orange Order, a group supportive of Northern Ireland being part of Britain, from proceeding down a street in the town of Portadown where many favour unification with the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Burnham appealed for “calm on all sides” over the parade, saying there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland, and we don’t want to see things go backwards.”

But Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who is among the protesters on Garvaghy Road, says the reignition of the Drumcree dispute “brings into question how this whole peace process works.”

Sunday’s march marks the first time in almost 30 years that the Orange Order have been allowed to parade down Garvaghy Road.

The road was a notorious flashpoint before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 largely ended bloodshed that left 3,600 people dead, some 50,000 wounded and thousands bereaved. 

In the years before the agreement, Garvaghy Road saw a number of violent and required major security operations.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald called the green light for the parade “madness,” adding that it was “intolerable and will not be accepted.” 

But Gavin Robinson, the leader of the Democrat Unionist Party, accused Sinn Fein leaders of inflaming the situation.

He said: “The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Fein likes the outcome. 

“Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law.”

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin appealed for “calm on all sides” of the stand-off, but said he found the “original decision by the Parades Commission incomprehensible and wrong.”

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