{"id":2167379,"date":"2026-09-27T14:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T11:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2167379"},"modified":"2026-09-27T14:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T11:07:17","slug":"orange-order-march-row-goes-to-heart-of-ongoing-divisions-in-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2167379","title":{"rendered":"Orange Order march row goes to heart of ongoing divisions in Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/bf2e\/live\/10d4e110-ba76-11f1-8d03-cba75b2c1d34.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Hundreds of protesters blocked the parade route after it was given clearance for the first time in almost 30 years<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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History shows that a crisis in Northern Ireland is easier to start than finish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What makes the latest difficulties especially hard to resolve is that there is a stand-off at ground-level as well as within the political process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The combination of the five Ps \u2013 politics, parading, protests, policing and Portadown \u2013 often does not end well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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With hundreds of people on the street, and rival groups not far apart, there is huge relief that nobody has been hurt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The challenge facing all concerned is to make sure it stays that way in the coming days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Northern Ireland has matured since the dark days of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A crisis does not automatically mean violence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, nobody doubts that the current situation remains delicate, emotions are raw in Portadown and something needs to be done soon to defuse the tension.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There is no quick fix, but the immediate aim is to find a way to end the street politics and move everything into a safer place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Drumcree parade dispute in Portadown is a clash of political cultures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Orange Order is a Protestant pro-British organisation. The area where it wants to walk is largely Catholic, and predominantly inhabited by pro-Irish nationalists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This dispute over a piece of road is not just a local problem. It has the potential to affect other parts of Northern Ireland and the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“What happens at Drumcree never stays at Drumcree,” was how one retired politician put it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When the parade dispute first erupted into violence in the mid-1990s, the disorder spread to other places – and almost derailed the peace process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But while it was never fully resolved, the dispute faded over the next 30 years. Its sudden re-emergence has caught most people by surprise, including many politicians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What happened was that a legal case was brought to court over the dispute early this summer, re-opening the debate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The two largest parties in Northern Ireland, Sinn F\u00e9in and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), have been on opposite sides of the argument.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sinn F\u00e9in are firmly behind the residents. The DUP fully supports the Orange Order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They may be partners in the devolved government at Stormont, but when it comes to Drumcree they could not be further apart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As always in Northern Ireland, the historical context is important.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Orangemen waited in the Drumcree church hall for the go-ahead to proceed down the Garvaghy Road<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Although there has been an uneasy calm in Portadown over the parading issue in recent years, the Orange Order regards the march as unfinished business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In 1998, it was banned from completing its Drumcree march – which includes the Garvaghy Road – and has been repeatedly refused permission to finish the route ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It has applied and been turned down more than 1,000 times in the past three decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It says it is being denied a traditional walk which dates back to the early 1800s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A Parades Commission was set up in the late 1990s to adjudicate on marching disputes and, until now, it has consistently ruled against the route.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Orange Order’s legal challenge to a ruling in June this year succeeded on procedural grounds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The order subsequently re-applied for permission to carry out the parade, albeit a scaled-back version with only 35 participants rather than 400 – and was successful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Nationalist residents on the Garvaghy Road were left shocked and angry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For them, the parade is triumphalist and unwelcome in the area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Rather than being about tradition, they see the parade as an act of supremacy and say it re-opens old community wounds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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During a last-minute legal battle over the march, a judge appealed for all sides of the dispute to find common ground and come to an agreement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Nobody was surprised when that did not happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Feelings are running high on the issue on all sides, including among the political parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Relations in the power-sharing executive are now dangerously close to breaking point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There is a Stormont election next year which means parties tend to dig in, rather than search for compromises.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Drumcree dispute goes to the heart of the divisions which remain in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Events of recent days are a reminder that the peace process is not over, it is ongoing – and there is still work to be done on the ground and at Stormont.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/ckx2zq7x32wro”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/bf2e\/live\/10d4e110-ba76-11f1-8d03-cba75b2c1d34.jpg”] Reuters Hundreds of protesters blocked the parade route after it was given clearance for the first time in almost 30 years History shows that a crisis in Northern Ireland is easier to start than finish. What makes the latest difficulties especially hard to resolve is that there is a stand-off at ground-level […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2167379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2167379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2167379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2167379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2167379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}