Orange marchers face Garvaghy road block
A major security operation was being mounted at Drumcree Church in Co Armagh today to ensure no repeat of the violence of previous years when loyalists clashed with police.
Marchers from Portadown Orange Lodge were arriving at the church this morning and attempting to march back into the town via the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road.
However, they were due to find their way blocked, as it has been for the previous five years, following rulings by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, which presides over contentious marches.
Large numbers of troops with heavy equipment worked throughout yesterday to make sure any attempt by Orange Order marchers to reach the flashpoint Garvaghy Road was blocked.
The heavy barrier traditionally used to block the road below the church was in place early today.
Fences of razor wire also stretched across the fields to ensure no-one got around the main steel barriers.
Despite the undoubted size of the security operation, it is smaller than those seen in previous years, reflecting the optimism of police chiefs that there will be no major trouble this year.
Police have vowed to provide as low key a presence as possible for today’s parade.
Assistant Chief Constable Stephen White, in charge of the operation, said: “I intend to police this year’s event with as light a touch a possible, but if we have to stop people, we’ll do it in proportion to the numbers of people there and the threat which is posed.”
An army spokesman said soldiers would also be maintaining a low-profile presence. However, he insisted more troops were stationed nearby if required to support police.
Violence has flared at the march ever since the first stand-off between loyalists and the security forces in 1995.
Orangemen have been banned from walking along the Garvaghy Road since 1998 because of the objections of Catholics and nationalist residents, a move which has sparked loyalist violence across the province.
The authorities were criticised last year after scaled down security measures strained to cope with loyalist violence.
An army spokesman said the main barrier across the road today was smaller than that seen in earlier years, but more robust than the one which was stormed by protesters last year.
Barriers were also in place around St John’s Catholic Church at the top of the Garvaghy Road and troops are stationed along part of the parade route in Obins Street in Portadown.
Hopes were raised this year that an end to the stand-off may be in sight.
In a bid to end the blockade, the leadership of the local Orange Lodge agreed for the first time to hold face-to-face talks with residents, which they wanted to be chaired by Downing Street aide, Jonathan Powell.
No talks took place, however, and it is now hoped those moves may provide a solution in time for next year’s parade.
The leaders of all the main Protestant churches appealed for calm ahead of today’s parade, which commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.
