Drumcree parade passes off peacefully - as leading Orangeman explains why the Order isn't giving up

The District’s top Orangeman says the fact that the event is the oldest continuous Orange service in the institution’s history shows why the organisation hasn’t given up on the parade – but the residents group which has opposed the parade for almost three decades says the Order needs to move on.

The parade was stopped by police in 1998 and has not proceeded along the route since.

The Parades Commission has concluded that the ban “remains necessary, proportionate and fair” and “reflects the potential impacts on community relations in the immediate vicinity of Portadown and across Northern Ireland”.

​The local district believes there were a few hundred people in attendance at the event this year, at which a verbal protest was registered with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Speaking after the parade, Portadown District Master Nigel Dawson said that a small representation of Orangeman go every Sunday, “to give the commission the opportunity at some point to make a positive determination”.

Mr Dawson said there are two important facts which highlight why the issue is so important to the Orange institution. “We were the first district that was formed. But more importantly, it's also the oldest continuous Orange service in the history of the Orange institution. We were the first service, and that's why it's so important that the 1998 parade is completed”, he said.

The District Master has taken part in the Drumcree parade for almost 40 years, and he is the only district officer left from the year the trouble first began, in 1995.

The Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition said it welcomes the fact that the Orange Order parade passed off peacefully. The group said there “is no logical reason why the Orange Order simply refuses to return to Carleton Street by the same route which they used to make their way out to Drumcree.

“As we have said before: the Nationalist community has moved on from the dark days of the 1990's. It's time the Orange Order did likewise.”

Last week, DUP MP Carla Lockhart called on the Secretary of State to take action on the parade. She said Hilary Benn “listened carefully” during a recent meeting – but said “words must now be followed by action”.

The Upper Bann MP said: “This is a dispute that has now persisted for over 25 years, and in that time we have witnessed a sustained effort from Portadown District to seek dialogue, to be respectful, and to pursue a peaceful and lawful resolution." She queried the evidence behind the commission’s warning on the potential for disorder.

In response, the Parades Commission said it has “consistently encouraged all parties to enter into dialogue to achieve an accommodation which meets the needs of the local communities”. The NIO said the commission continues to have the government’s “full support”.