98-464: 1980s 1990s The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is a dispute over yearly parades in the town of Portadown , Northern Ireland . The town is mainly Protestant and hosts numerous Protestant marches each summer, but has a significant Catholic minority. The Orange Order insists that it should be allowed to march its traditional route to and from Drumcree Church on the Sunday before
196-526: A Battle of the Boyne commemoration sermon at Drumcree Church. In his History of Ireland Vol I (published in 1809), historian Francis Plowden described what followed this sermon: [Reverend Devine] so worked up the minds of his audience, that upon retiring from service [...] they gave full scope to the anti-papistical zeal, with which he had inspired them; falling upon every Catholic they met, beating and bruising them without provocation or distinction, breaking
294-606: A British Army armoured vehicle . An inquest later ruled that Private Daniel Moran, the driver, did not follow proper military procedures. The rioting was some of the worst in Derry during the Troubles. Rioting continued throughout the week, during which time the police fired 6,000 plastic bullets, 5,000 of which were directed at nationalists. The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), who had sent members to observe
392-713: A Catholic chapel on their march to Drumcree. There was violence during the Drumcree parades in 1873, 1883, 1885, 1886, 1892, 1903, 1905, 1909, and 1917. After the partition of Ireland in 1921, the Northern Ireland Government 's policy tended to favour Protestant and unionist parades. From 1922 to 1950, almost 100 parades and meetings were banned under the Special Powers Act – nearly all were Irish nationalist or republican . Although violence died down during this period, there were clashes at
490-634: A UDA member (and former police officer) entered McCabe's Bar and shot the Catholic pub-owner, Jack McCabe, and a Protestant customer, William Cochrane. That day, under tight security, the Orangemen again marched along Obins Street, this time from Corcrain Orange Hall to the town centre. On 15 July, Catholic civilian Felix Hughes was kidnapped, beaten, tortured and shot dead by the UDA in a Protestant area of
588-417: A few years passed without serious conflict over the Drumcree parades, both sides remained unhappy with the situation. Orangemen took the new route each year, but continued to apply for marches along Obins Street. Meanwhile, residents of Garvaghy Road and the surrounding Catholic district ( see map ) opposed what they saw as "triumphalist" Orange marches through their area. They made their opposition known through
686-597: A group of republican activists in the town researched the history of sectarian violence in the area as part of a campaign to have the Drumcree and other Orange marches banned from nationalist parts of Portadown. Their findings were distributed to visiting journalists in 1997 and presented in abridged form to the Parades Commission that was set up by the British Government in 1998 in an attempt to deal with contentious parades. The Parades Commission has
784-620: A particular sect or organisation. I belong to the Orange Institution. Bigot means you look after the people you belong to. That's what I'm doing. I'm a sectarian bigot and proud of it. On Saturday 6 July 1996, the Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley , stated that the parade would be banned from Garvaghy Road. The RUC had acknowledged this could result in "a very high number of Orangemen laying siege to Portadown". Police checkpoints and barricades were set up on all routes into
882-477: A prominent cultural feature of Northern Ireland . The overwhelming majority of parades are held by Ulster Protestant , unionist or Ulster loyalist groups, but some Irish nationalist , republican and non-political groups also parade. Due to longstanding controversy surrounding the contentious nature of some parades, a quasi-judicial public body, the Parades Commission , exists to place conditions and settle disputes. Although not all parading groups recognise
980-613: A splinter group called the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). Following the events of July 1996, many Catholics and nationalists began boycotting businesses run by Orangemen who had been involved in the standoff. This boycott particularly affected Protestant-owned businesses in Catholic-majority towns of counties Armagh and Tyrone. Commenting on the 1996 crisis, a Northern Ireland Office official said constraints on parades aroused an "atavistic response from
1078-448: A total of 2863 parades in 2007. Of these, 2270 were loyalist, 144 nationalist, and 449 neither. Four of these were illegal and of these three were nationalist. 45 parades were re-routed, of which all but two (one nationalist, one other) were loyalist, and 78 parades had other conditions imposed, of which 70 were loyalist, 7 nationalist and one neither. Disorder occurred at just ten parades, of which nine were loyalist and one nationalist. This
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#17327800048521176-461: A unionist politician and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member who had proposed burning Catholics in ovens. As the march entered the Catholic district, police seized Seawright and others. Orangemen then attacked the police and journalists. A Catholic priest was assaulted by loyalists and at Drumcree a police Land Rover was overturned. Catholic youths also threw missiles at the police and marchers. At least 27 officers were injured. The 12 July march into
1274-478: Is a Republican March every year to commemorate the anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike . The parade is attended by Republican figures such as Gerry Adams . Republican parades are attended by Irish Republican bands that come from Scotland, England and Ireland, especially the march in August to commemorate the anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, groups of civil activists such as
1372-748: Is a major parading time for both communities, and is often considered to be the start of the year's "marching season". A number of republican groups also commemorate the Easter Rising. According to Neil Jarman, Protestants began parading at Easter in the 1930s to counter republican parading, but "few people are aware of this, and Easter parades are now an accepted part of the loyalist tradition". A number of parades are held in Northern Ireland, especially in Belfast , which are not associated with any particular religious tradition. They are subject to
1470-555: Is bedecked with loyalist flags and symbols. A loyalist arch is raised over the Garvaghy Road at the Corcrain River, just inside the Catholic district. This is to coincide with the "marching season", when numerous Protestant and loyalist marches are held in the town. Each July, there are five Protestant or loyalist parades that enter the mainly nationalist district: There is also a junior Orange parade each May along
1568-508: Is celebrated with the year's last major Orange parades. In Belfast, these proceed to Saint Anne's Cathedral for a church service. The Apprentice Boys of Derry exist in commemoration of the siege of Derry in the seventeenth century. The Boys' biggest celebration is held in Derry on the Saturday nearest 12 August each year, in commemoration of the lifting of the siege. They also parade on
1666-467: Is the Sunday closest to 1 August. Northern Ireland's biggest annual republican parade takes place in August, during Féile an Phobail . This began as a protest against internment without trial and evolved into a festival that celebrates Gaelic and republican culture. Republican parades are also held in January to commemorate Bloody Sunday , and at Easter to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising . There
1764-521: The Ancient Order of Hibernians parade relatively infrequently, their main parades being on Saint Patrick's Day , at Easter, and on Lady Day . At various points during the Troubles, Hibernians offered to cease parading if Protestant groups did the same. The Irish National Foresters are a nationalist fraternal organisation. Although they are open to Irish people of any religion, the majority of their members are Catholics. Their main parading date
1862-545: The British Legion and commemorate war dead of all religious backgrounds. Remembrance Sunday parades usually consist of a march by veterans or local military units or both to a Remembrance Sunday ceremony, usually held at a war memorial, and often another march to a church service. There are many parades on St. Patrick's Day throughout Northern Ireland. Although the parade celebrates the Patron Saint's stature as
1960-551: The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and People's Democracy attempted to use the protest march tactics of contemporary protest movements elsewhere in the world to draw attention to political, social and economic discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland. The civil rights marches and the reaction to them were a major contributing factor to the outbreak of The Troubles , due largely to heavy-handed policing. Easter
2058-549: The Provisional Irish Republican Army and Ulster Defence Association , and otherwise non-controversial parades have sometimes caused conflict because of a band or lodge carrying a banner or flag associated with a paramilitary group. Gay pride parades have also been controversial. Since the nineteenth century the British government and various local authorities have attempted to control parades and
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#17327800048522156-571: The Salvation Army in Northern Ireland sometimes parades with brass bands . Salvation Army parades are generally not seen as controversial or sectarian, and their parades have not led to any problems. An LGBT+ Pride parade has been held in Belfast each year since the early 1990s. As Northern Ireland has high levels of fundamentalist Christianity, it is often controversial. In 2005 a number of Christian groups called for it to be banned, but
2254-461: The Twelfth of July . However, most of this route is through the mainly Catholic/ Irish nationalist part of town. The residents, who see the march as sectarian , triumphalist and supremacist , have sought to ban it from their area. There has been intermittent violence over the march since the 1800s. The outbreak of the Troubles led to the dispute intensifying in the 1970s and 1980s. At this time,
2352-489: The Ulster Unionist Party that made up the government. Several Home Affairs Ministers were forced to make public apologies after interfering with unionist parades and two ( Brian Maginess and W.W.B. Topping ) were moved from the position after banning unionist band parades. From the late 1960s, parading and marching became a much more fraught issue. The Public Order Act was used against numerous marches, and
2450-620: The peace process . The situation in Portadown was likened to a "war zone" and a "siege". In 1995 and 1996, residents succeeded in stopping the march. This led to a standoff at Drumcree between the security forces and thousands of Orangemen/ loyalists . Following a wave of loyalist violence, police allowed the march through. In 1997, security forces locked down the Catholic area and let the march through, citing loyalist threats to kill Catholics if it were stopped. This sparked widespread protests and violence by Irish nationalists. From 1998 onward,
2548-511: The 1931 and 1950 Drumcree parades. The Public Order Act 1951 exempted "traditional" parades from having to ask police permission, but "non-traditional" parades could be banned or re-routed without appeal. Again, the legislation tended to benefit Protestant parades. In the 1960s, housing estates were built along Garvaghy Road. In 1969, Northern Ireland was plunged into a conflict known as the Troubles . Portadown underwent major population shifts; these new estates became almost wholly Catholic, while
2646-511: The 1970s and 1980s. Several areas have been the focus of a disproportionate amount of conflict over parading. These include Derry, Ormeau Road in Belfast, and especially the Drumcree area of Portadown . The Drumcree conflict flared up in the 1970s, the mid 1980s and the mid to late 1990s. Disputes over whether the Orange Order should be allowed to parade through mainly nationalist areas were often accompanied by severe violence. In 1983-4
2744-533: The 1970s. He was replaced by Brendan McKenna (also known as Breandán Mac Cionnaith ), a former Republican militant. In 1981, he had been jailed for six years for his part in a bomb attack on Portadown Royal British Legion hall. David Trimble , then the local Unionist MP, cited McKenna's presence as reason for refusing to have dealings with the GRRC. On Sunday 9 July 1995, the Orangemen marched to Drumcree Church, held their church service, and then began marching towards
2842-672: The Boyne . Individual lodges also parade at various times of the year, particularly leading up to the Twelfth. Parades in memory of the dead of World War I , particularly the 36th (Ulster) Division at the Battle of the Somme , are held in July and November. Junior lodges from Armagh , South Tyrone and Fermanagh parade annually at the end of May. On the last Saturday in October, Reformation Day
2940-479: The Catholic area. On Sunday 7 July, the march was blocked by police barricades at Drumcree. At least 4,000 Orangemen and loyalist supporters began another standoff. That afternoon, Orange Grand Master Martin Smyth arrived at Drumcree and announced there could be no compromise. Over the next three days, buses full of Orangemen and their supporters arrived in Portadown, bringing traffic to a standstill. By Wednesday night,
3038-503: The Catholic district formed a group called People Against Injustice, later renamed the Drumcree Faith & Justice Group (DFJG). It quickly became the main group representing the residents. The DFJG sought to explain to Orangemen how residents felt about the marches and to improve cross-community relations. It organized peaceful protests, issued newsletters and held talks with police. It also tried, unsuccessfully, to hold talks with
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3136-624: The Commission's authority, its decisions are legally binding. The majority of parades in Northern Ireland (nearly 70% in 2003/4 ) are organised by Protestant and/or unionist groups, leading some people to view attempts to restrict parades as an attack on Protestant and/or unionist culture. Parades typically take place on Saturdays, which means that participants and spectators do not have to take time off work, and avoid parading on Sunday, which some Protestants believe should only be spent on purely religious activities. The only exceptions to this are
3234-469: The Drumcree Sunday parade would be allowed along Obins Street with some restrictions, but that the 12 and 13 July parades would be re-routed. On 6 July 1985, an estimated 4,000 soldiers and police were deployed in the town for the Drumcree parade. Police said the Orange Order had allowed "known troublemakers" to take part in the march, contrary to a prior agreement. Among them was George Seawright ,
3332-412: The Garvaghy Road. However, hundreds of Catholic residents were holding a sit-down protest on Garvaghy Road to block the march. Although the march was legal and the protest was not, police stopped the march from continuing. The Orangemen refused to take another route, announcing they would stay at Drumcree until they were allowed to continue. The Orangemen refused to negotiate with the residents' group, and
3430-521: The Mediation Network was called upon to intercede. The police and local politicians were also involved in trying to resolve the deadlock. Meanwhile, about 10,000 Orangemen and supporters had gathered at Drumcree and were engaged in a standoff with about 1,000 police. During this standoff, loyalists continuously threw missiles at police and tried to break through the police blockade; officers responded by firing 24 plastic bullets . In support of
3528-402: The Orangemen, loyalists blocked numerous roads across Northern Ireland, and sealed off the port of Larne . There was violence in some Protestant areas. On the evening of Monday 10 July, Ian Paisley ( Democratic Unionist Party leader) and David Trimble (soon to be Ulster Unionist Party leader) held a rally at Drumcree. Afterwards, they gathered a number of Orangemen and tried to push through
3626-456: The Orangemen. One of the key figures in this group was a Jesuit priest who, during one of his Sunday sermons in Portadown, suggested that anyone who voted for Sinn Féin should consider themselves excommunicated . The Apprentice Boys of Derry , a Protestant fraternity similar to the Orange Order, had planned to march along Garvaghy Road and through the town centre on the afternoon of 1 April ( Easter Monday ). On 31 March, police decided to ban
3724-507: The Ormeau marching dispute and even destabilise the ceasefires". When GRRC chairman Breandán Mac Cionnaith asked protesters to clear the road, some heckled him and refused. Flanagan was told there would be a better chance of the protesters moving if they knew there would be no march there next year. Flanagan replied that "there was no question of marches going where there was no consent from the community". The residents were then persuaded to clear
3822-564: The Parades Commission ruled that it could go ahead. It is sometimes described as one of the few genuine cross-community events in Northern Ireland. War memorial parades are mainly attended by the unionist population of Northern Ireland, but recently nationalists have started to get involved. Some war memorial parades are run by Protestant organisations such as the Orange Order. However those on Remembrance Sunday (the Sunday closest to 11 November) are organised by local councils or
3920-554: The Patron Saint of Ireland, it has been recognised that St. Patrick is the patron saint of the island of Ireland, and the patron saint of both Nationalists and Unionists throughout Ireland. In recent years, loyal orders such as the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys of Derry have held parades to mark St. Patrick's day. Some youth organisations, such as the Boys' Brigade , take part in or organise parades and drills throughout
4018-600: The Portadown Orange Lodge. Gracey had thanked Wright for his role in supporting the Orangemen. Wright also held a meeting with David Trimble, leader of the UUP. Members of the brigade smuggled homemade weaponry to Drumcree, apparently unhindered by the Orangemen. Allegedly, the brigade also had plans to drive petrol tankers into the Garvaghy area and blow them up. On Wednesday 10 July, police reported that, over
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4116-487: The Saturday nearest 18 December, in commemoration of the original apprentice boys shutting the gates of the town against King James II 's troops, and at Easter. Most Apprentice Boys' parades are held in the city of Derry. The main parade of the Royal Black Institution is held on the last Saturday of August and is known as Last or Black Saturday. This was originally held on 12 August in commemoration of
4214-757: The Select Committee published its report a Cabinet council was held at the Foreign Office for the purpose of agreeing the terms of the resolutions which were to be submitted to the House of Commons by Lord John Russell, Secretary of State for the Home Department, on 23 Feb 1836. This resolution stated: The Secretary of State read the following response from the King to the House of Commons on Thursday 25 Feb 1836: The following day Lord Russell read
4312-408: The Twelfth of July parades, which are held on the same date each year, (unless the 12th falls on a Sunday, in which case it is postponed to Monday the 13th), and church parades, which are held on Sunday. The Orange Institution holds hundreds of parades throughout Northern Ireland every year. The biggest of these are usually on the twelfth of July ('The Twelfth'), in commemoration of the Battle of
4410-479: The UDA would not be allowed to repeat such actions. On Saint Patrick's Day 1985, the Saint Patrick's Accordion Band (a local Catholic marching band) was given permission to parade a two-mile "circuit" of the mainly Catholic area. However, a small part of the two-mile route (about 150 yards of Park Road) was lined with Protestant-owned houses. Arnold Hatch, the town's Ulster Unionist Party mayor , demanded
4508-539: The UVF were "stood down" by the UVF leadership for breaking the ceasefire. The UVF warned Wright to leave Northern Ireland. He ignored the warning, and a large rally was held in Portadown in support of him. Harold Gracey (head of the Portadown Orange Lodge) and William McCrea (a DUP politician) attended the rally and made speeches in support of Wright. Along with most of his Portadown unit, Wright then formed
4606-535: The United Kingdom are invited to compete in—sometimes amounting to over 100 bands for a single parade. Band parades are more regular than loyal order parades, with numerous parades every weekend from early April until the end of September. Parades are much less common among nationalist or republican communities. According to the Parades Commission, less than 5% of parades in Northern Ireland are nationalist/republican. Compared to most Protestant organisations
4704-466: The ban. In the afternoon, Apprentice Boys bands tried to enter the town centre for their planned march. When police blocked them, a fierce riot erupted. After negotiations, the bands were allowed to march through the town centre with some restrictions. However, loyalists then attacked police who had sealed off Obins Street. One of the loyalists, Keith White, was shot in the face by a plastic bullet and died in hospital on 14 April. Police again decided that
4802-454: The calendar. Parading is a controversial issue in Northern Ireland. In general, debates centre on the route of particular parades; people from one community often object to parades by "the other side" passing through or near "their" area, exclusively the Orange Order parades marching through mainly nationalist or republican areas. A few parades are seen as objectionable regardless of route. These involve or commemorate paramilitary groups, such as
4900-402: The conflict in the 1990s, about 70% of the population were from a Protestant background and 30% from a Catholic background. The town's Catholics and Irish nationalists, as in the rest of Northern Ireland, had long suffered discrimination, especially in employment. Throughout the 20th century, the police— Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)—was also almost wholly Protestant. Each summer the town centre
4998-501: The context for the RUC relenting on the issue, although on the condition the band complete their route in the predominantly Catholic area without displaying the Irish tricolour or have any accompanying supporters. The frustration of Catholic residents at the ban was amplified by the RUC facilitating Orange Order marches in the area every year. Residents complained that the only time Obins Street
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#17327800048525096-512: The crowd at Drumcree was expected to rise to 60,000 or 70,000 that night and would have broken through the defences and attacked the Catholic area. Nationalists argued that the police did nothing to stop the thousands of loyalists from gathering. Rioting erupted in Catholic/nationalist areas of Lurgan, Armagh , Belfast and Derry . In Derry, 22 protesters were seriously injured and one, Dermot McShane, died after being run-over by
5194-425: The daytime. Several Catholic families were forced to flee their homes in Belfast due to loyalist intimidation. Human Rights Watch said that police failed to remove these illegal roadblocks and had "abandoned its traditional policing function in some areas". Loyalists also attacked the homes of police officers, mainly of those on duty at Drumcree. Thousands of extra British troops were sent to Northern Ireland, bringing
5292-668: The disorder that sometimes accompanies them. The Orange Order and its parades were banned for a period in the nineteenth century. In an address to the British House of Commons, in July 1815, Henry Parnell called for an inquiry into the Orange Lodges in Ireland and noted that 14 petitions requesting such an inquiry saying: A Parliamentary Select Committee was set up to investigate the Orange Societies in 1835. When
5390-461: The dispute. The GRRC held regular public meetings with residents. There were usually about 12 representatives on the committee at any one time. According to one of its members, Joanne Tennyson, "Although the GRRC could speak to anyone they wanted, at the end of the day no-one in the committee had the right to say we would do anything [...] The community had to agree as a whole and that was the purpose of holding public meetings". The GRRC's first secretary
5488-590: The doors and windows of their houses, and actually murdering two unoffending Catholics in a bog. The first official Orange parade to and from Drumcree Church was in July 1807. Originally and traditionally it was to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne, but the Order now claims that it commemorates the Battle of the Somme during World War I . Each July, the Orangemen have marched from the town centre to Drumcree via Obins Street/Dungannon Road and returned along Garvaghy Road. In
5586-457: The early 19th century, this area was mostly farmland . In 1835, Armagh magistrate William Hancock (a Protestant) wrote that "For some time past the peaceable inhabitants of the parish of Drumcree have been insulted and outraged by large bodies of Orangemen parading the highways, playing party tunes, firing shots and using the most opprobrious epithets they could invent". He added that the Orangemen go "a considerable distance out of their way" to pass
5684-592: The end of the siege of Derry, but in the 1950s the date of the event was moved. Local parades are held in Belfast in the two weeks beforehand. Its other major event is the "sham fight" at Scarva on 13 July, in which an actor playing William of Orange ritually defeats an actor playing James II, thus re-enacting the victory of the Williamite forces at the Battle of the Boyne. There is also a 12 August Battle of Newtownbutler celebration parade held in Fermanagh. It
5782-585: The escalation of the parade dispute. 1985 was the first time the band had been given permission to march the route, following a high-profile campaign backed by Bríd Rogers which saw letters posted to senior politicians in Britain, the Republic of Ireland, and United States. Growing cooperation between Ireland and the United Kingdom developing into what became the Anglo-Irish Agreement provided
5880-455: The events of July 1995. Residents were angered that the parade had gone ahead and at what they saw as unionist triumphalism, while Orangemen and their supporters were angered that their parade had been held up by an illegal protest. Some Orangemen formed a group called Spirit of Drumcree (SoD) to defend their "right to march". At a SoD meeting in Belfast's Ulster Hall one of the platform speakers said, to applause: Sectarian means you belong to
5978-410: The following evening and loyalists attacked police with ball bearings fired from slingshots . In the two-day clashes, at least 52 police officers and 28 rioters were injured, 37 people were arrested (including two Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers) and about 50 Catholic-owned homes and businesses were attacked. After this, police erected a barrier at each end of Obins Street. In July 1985, residents of
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#17327800048526076-476: The government passed the Public Order Act , which required parade organisers to give the police forty-eight hours notice of their intent to parade. The local head of police could then ban or re-route the parade if he felt it might lead to a breach of public order. The only exceptions to this rule were funerals and parades normally held along a particular route. Since Orange parades had been allowed along
6174-578: The issue of parading and of who was allowed to march in what area became even more heated. In 1969 an Apprentice Boys parade in Derry led to what is now known as the Battle of the Bogside , considered by many to mark the start of the Troubles . Several months-long bans on parading were made in the early 1970s, although none of these covered the main Protestant parading period. The Special Powers and Public Order Acts were modified on several occasions in
6272-465: The lower Garvaghy Road at Victoria Terrace. [REDACTED] The Orange Order was founded in 1795 in the village of Loughgall , a few miles from Drumcree, after the Battle of the Diamond . Its first ever marches were held on 12 July 1796 in Portadown, Lurgan and Waringstown . The area is thus seen as the birthplace of Orangeism. In July 1795, the year the Order formed, a Reverend Devine had held
6370-569: The march as it believed loyalist paramilitaries were planning to hijack it. That evening, cars with loudspeakers toured Protestant areas and summoned people to gather in the town centre to contest the ban. At 1 am, at least 3,000 loyalists gathered in the town centre, forced their way past a small group of police, and began marching along Garvaghy Road. Among them was Ian Paisley , leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and Free Presbyterian Church . Residents claimed that some of
6468-573: The march be banned. When the police let it go ahead, Hatch and a small group of loyalists staged a sit-down protest on Park Road. The police forced the band to turn around. That evening, the band again tried to march the route. Although the protesters had gone, police again stopped the band and there was a confrontation between police and residents. Following this incident, Portadown Catholics boosted their campaign to ban Orange marches from Obins Street. Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician Bríd Rodgers described this incident as "pivotal" in
6566-410: The march was banned from Garvaghy Road and the army sealed off the Catholic area with large steel, concrete and barbed-wire barricades. Each year there was a major standoff at Drumcree and widespread loyalist violence. Since 2001, things have been relatively calm, but moves to get the two sides into face-to-face talks have failed. Portadown has long been mainly Protestant and unionist . At the height of
6664-406: The marchers were carrying guns and were known to be members of the police and UDR. Some of the marchers attacked houses along the route and residents claimed the police did little or nothing to stop this. There followed rioting between residents and the police, and residents set up barricades for fear of further attacks. There was a feeling among locals that police had "mutinied" and refused to enforce
6762-461: The most contentious part of the route was the outward leg along Obins Street. After serious violence two years in a row, the march was banned from Obins Street in 1986. The focus then shifted to the march's return leg along Garvaghy Road . Each July from 1995 to 2000, the dispute drew international attention as it sparked protests and violence throughout Northern Ireland, prompted a massive police and British Army operation, and threatened to derail
6860-494: The number of Orangemen and loyalists at Drumcree had risen to 10,000. Again, they pelted police with missiles and tried to break through the blockade, while police responded with plastic bullets. Loyalists brought an armour-plated bulldozer to Drumcree, threatening to storm the police line. Throughout Northern Ireland, loyalists blocked hundreds of roads, clashed with police, and attacked or intimidated Catholics. Many towns and villages were blockaded, either completely or for much of
6958-408: The parade to urinate on its walls. The presence of the overwhelmingly Protestant Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) exacerbated tensions; residents claimed that UDR soldiers verbally and physically assaulted members of the Catholic community, particularly on the way to and from mass . Shortly before the Drumcree parade of 7 July 1985, hundreds of residents staged a sit-down protest on Obins Street. Present
7056-445: The police line but were taken away by officers. On the morning of Tuesday 11 July, a compromise was reached. The Orangemen would be allowed to march along Garvaghy Road on condition that they did so silently and without accompanying bands. Ronnie Flanagan (Deputy Chief Constable of the police) told the GRRC that residents should peacefully remove themselves from the road because "an angry scene between police and protesters could worsen
7154-553: The power to ban, restrict, re-route or impose conditions on any parade in Northern Ireland. The Orange Order has refused to acknowledge the Commission's authority, although the lodges involved in the Drumcree dispute have recently agreed on principle to negotiate. According to the Parades Commission, a total of 3405 parades (not counting funerals) were held in Northern Ireland in 2007. The following table groups these parades by type and sponsoring organisation. The Police Service of Northern Ireland uses different statistics, and recorded
7252-428: The previous four days of loyalist protests, there had been: Shortly before noon on Thursday 11 July, the Chief Constable reversed his decision and allowed the Orangemen to march along Garvaghy Road. The residents' group had not been consulted on this and rioting erupted as police in armoured vehicles flooded the Garvaghy area and batoned hundreds of protesters off the Garvaghy Road. About 1,200 Orangemen then marched down
7350-421: The rally, loyalists attacked the Catholic neighbourhood around Obins Street, known as "The Tunnel". Following this, Catholic residents formed a protest group named the "Portadown Resistance Council", which called for the upcoming marches to be re-routed away from Obins Street ( see map ). The Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a then-legal loyalist vigilante and paramilitary group, warned of consequences if anything
7448-608: The response of the Grand Master of the Orange Order, the Duke of Cumberland, brother of King William iv to the House of Commons on 26 February. It said: The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland met in Dublin on 13 April 1836 and voted in favour of dissolving the organisation. However, Orangemen in Portadown met in secret and resolved to set up a provisional Grand Lodge in the town. The British government's policy of banning sectarian parades
7546-614: The rest of the town's estates became almost wholly Protestant. Many Orangemen joined the Northern Ireland security forces: the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the British Army 's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). In March 1972, thousands of loyalists attended an Ulster Vanguard rally in the town, which was addressed by Martin Smyth (Grand Master of the Orange Order) and the mayor of Portadown. After
7644-492: The road while residents were hemmed into their estates by riot police. There was outrage among the Catholic/nationalist community, who believed police had "surrendered" to loyalist violence and threats. An article in the Irish News concluded that "police did not have the will to impose the rule of law on the Orange Order and loyalists". The Chief Constable said he believed the situation could no longer be contained. He claimed
7742-479: The road, which was lined by at least fifty masked and uniformed UDA members. The UDA men then made their way to Drumcree and escorted the Orangemen back into town along Garvaghy Road. With troops and police out in force, the march passed peacefully. However, on 12 July, three men were shot dead in Portadown. A Protestant, Paul Beattie, was shot in Churchill Park, a housing estate off Garvaghy Road. Hours later,
7840-479: The road. This was all confirmed by the Mediation Network. The Orangemen marched along the road with Paisley and Trimble at the head of the march. As they reached the end of Garvaghy Road, Paisley and Trimble held their hands in the air in what appeared to be a gesture of triumph. Trimble claims that he only took Paisley's hand to prevent the DUP leader from taking all the media attention. Both sides were deeply unhappy with
7938-525: The same laws and regulations as other parades. Several cities in Northern Ireland hold Lord Mayor 's parades marking the end of the mayor's term in office. These are usually carnival -type events that evolved from the more stately affairs held in many cities in the United Kingdom since the Middle Ages . The Belfast parade takes place in May; the 2007 theme was "Love and Friendship". As in other countries,
8036-413: The same routes without interference for years, this essentially meant that most Orange parades were exempt from having to give notice. The new Act was used disproportionately against nationalist parades, although from time to time Ministers attempted to stop unionist groups from parading through predominantly nationalist areas. This always met with fierce hostility from the Orange Order and often from within
8134-627: The situation, condemned this "completely indiscriminate" use of plastic bullets. Human Rights Watch also accused police of using "excessive force". Leaders of Sinn Féin and the SDLP stated that nationalists had completely lost faith in the RUC as an impartial police force. In protest, the SDLP resigned its 21 seats in the Northern Ireland Forum , and support grew for Sinn Féin and the IRA. In August 1996, Billy Wright and his Portadown unit of
8232-473: The special status of "traditional" parades. This meant that, after 1986, Orange marches were effectively banned from Obins Street indefinitely. The July 1987 march was re-routed, and 3,000 soldiers and 1,000 police were sent to keep order. Orangemen believed that sacrificing the Obins Street leg meant they would be guaranteed the Garvaghy Road leg. Although the Garvaghy Road leg had caused trouble before, it
8330-517: The tenants' associations that represented each housing estate, the Drumcree Faith & Justice Group (DFJG), and local politicians. A 1993 survey of people living on Garvaghy Road found that 95% of them were against Orange marches in the area. In 1994, the Provisional IRA and Loyalist paramilitary groups called ceasefires . By the mid-1990s, the population of Portadown was about 70% Protestant and 30% Catholic. There were three Orange halls in
8428-558: The total number of troops deployed to 18,500. On the night of 7 July, Catholic taxi-driver Michael McGoldrick was shot dead near Lurgan by the Mid Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. It is believed the killing was ordered by the brigade's leader, Billy Wright , from Portadown. Wright was frequently seen at Drumcree in the company of Harold Gracey, head of
8526-556: The town and an estimated 40 Protestant/loyalist marches each summer. In May 1995, the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition (GRRC) was formed, comprising representatives from the DFJG and the tenants' associations. Its main goal was to divert Orange marches away from Garvaghy Road through peaceful means. It held peaceful protests, petitioned the police and government ministers, and tried to draw media attention to
8624-545: The town centre was blocked from Obins Street for the second year. Instead, police escorted the march along Garvaghy Road without any bands. Although there was no violence on Garvaghy Road, loyalists later rioted with police in the town centre and tried to smash through the barrier leading to Obins Street. In 1987, the Public Order Act was repealed by the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, which removed
8722-483: The town. He had been a long-time member of St Patrick's Accordion Band based on Obins Street. Later in the month, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a bomb on Woodhouse Street, and loyalists bombed a Catholic church. In the Obins Street area there was also a gun battle involving the IRA, the UDA, and the security forces. The UDA's involvement in the 1972 dispute made a lasting impression on Portadown's Catholics and Irish nationalists. The IRA warned that
8820-601: The unionist community", which recognised it had "lost dominance" in Northern Ireland; while "to many nationalists, the handling of the parades issue is an acid test of [the British Government's] resolve to create in NI a just and equitable society". In May 1997, a local Catholic, Robert Hamill , was kicked to death by a gang of loyalists on Portadown's main street. He and his friends were attacked while walking home. Parades in Northern Ireland Parades are
8918-494: Was Eunice Kennedy Shriver , sister of former US president John F. Kennedy . Among the 2,000 Orangemen were unionist politicians Martin Smyth (the Orange Grand Master), Harold McCusker and George Seawright . Riot police, armed with batons, forcefully removed the protesters and allowed the march to continue. At least one man was beaten unconscious by police and many were arrested. The whole length of Garvaghy Road
9016-492: Was Father Eamon Stack, a Jesuit priest and DFJG member who had lived in the area since 1993. Stack emphasized that the GRRC was non-sectarian and was not connected to any political parties. With the coalition chairman, he would remain its joint spokesman until after July 1997. The first chairman of the GRRC was Malachy Trainor. He stepped down after a week following threats from Loyalist paramilitaries, who had killed two of his brothers (both Republican activists) and his mother in
9114-501: Was cleaned by the local council was the week before the Twelfth of July, and the RUC would order residents to remove their cars from the street to give loyalist marchers an unobstructed passage. Residents were reportedly confined to their homes curfew-style for the duration of the parade. Anger was intensified by the way the bands (especially drummers) intensified their playing as they passed the parochial house where local priests lived, and Orangeman and supporters allegedly breaking away from
9212-425: Was done to stop the march. The day before the march, Catholics sealed off Obins Street with makeshift barricades. On the morning of the march, Sunday 9 July, British troops and riot police moved in to secure the area. When they bulldozed the barricades they were stoned by Catholic protesters and responded by firing CS gas and rubber bullets . Once the area was secured, they allowed the 1,200 Orangemen to march along
9310-622: Was eventually overturned after a campaign of defiance led by William Johnston of Ballykilbeg . The 1st Government of Northern Ireland passed the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922 , which allowed the Home Affairs Minister to do virtually anything he thought necessary to preserve law and order. Over the next thirty years this was used many times to ban or re-route nationalist, republican and some left-wing parades, marches and meetings. In 1951,
9408-537: Was less populated than Obins Street at the time. In June 1988, the Drumcree Faith & Justice Group (DFJG)—the group representing the Catholic/Irish nationalist residents—planned a march to the town centre to highlight what it saw as "double-standards" in the police's handling of nationalist and loyalist parades. It asked permission from police, saying there would be only 30 marchers and they would carry no flags or banners. They were denied permission. Although
9506-569: Was lined with British Army and police armoured vehicles for the march's return leg. At one point stones were thrown at the marchers and an Orangeman was injured. Police announced that the 12 and 13 July marches would be re-routed away from Obins Street. On 12 July, eight Orange lodges and hundreds of loyalist bandsmen met at Corcrain Orange Hall and tried to march through Obins Street to the town centre. When they were blocked by police, hundreds of loyalists gathered at both ends of Obins Street and attacked police lines for several hours. These clashes resumed
9604-460: Was previously held on the same date as the "Remembering the Siege of Derry", but has now been moved to the Saturday before in an attempt to attract larger crowds and more participants. As well as accompanying the above organisations on their parades, many marching bands also hold their own parades, often as a fund-raising activity. These are often combined with band competitions—which other bands in
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