Irish American politicians and organisations have been speaking out this weekend to prevent an Orange parade through the Catholic Garvaghy Road area of Portadown, Co Armagh.
Over the weekend thousands of nationalists rallied to block the Garvaghy Road to prevent a repeat of the scenes from 1998 when the Drumcree dispute threatened to derail the peace process. That year, Orangemen marching from Drumcree Church to Portadown city centre, were forced down the Garvaghy Road by a large force of RUC and British Army personnel. Many residents who had staged a sit-down protest were beaten by RUC riot squad officers while others were hemmed into their homes by British Army vehicles.
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter
Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America.
Yesterday, the police refused to allow the parade to go ahead, citing the protest on the Garvaghy Road.. This morning, residents were due to meet the British Secretary of State to call for the parade to be cancelled. However, the stalemate remains on the road with no clarity on the intention of the British Secretary of State Chris Bryant who has the authority to cancel the parade.
I join my Congressional Colleagues and Irish America in urging the British Secretary of State to cancel the Orange Order parade on Garvaghy Road, and ensure a peaceful resolution to the escalating situation.
Allowing this parade to proceed has resulted in wounds being ripped…
In a statement, The Brehon Law Society of New York said it was "dismayed" by the decision of the Parades’ Commission to allow the Orange parade on Sunday past.
"Triumphalist marches by Orangemen in their own communitiesis a matter for themselves. When those marches are forced on other communities, it is a very different matter," said Brehon Law Society President Deirdre Feerick, adding, "those marches (in the 1990s) were nothing more than an instrument of intimidation and hate. It beggars belief that the Parades’ Commission has decided to re-open a very sore wound."
Congressman Tim Kennedy of Buffalo, NY, tweeted support for the embattled Garvaghy Road residents. "I join my Congressional colleagues in urging the British Secretary of State to cancel the Orange Order parade and ensure a peaceful solution to the escalating situation," he said. "For 28 years, the Good Friday Agreement has been a model of peace and prosperity for the world to celebrate. We cannot and must not go back."
That view was echoed by Congressman Richie Neal of Massachusetts, Co-Chair for the Friends of Ireland Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Speaking as residents were seeking a judicial block on the parade — a bid that failed — Congressman Neal warned a repeat of the Drumcree debacle would "represent a marked step backward".
"It is within the Secretary of State’s remit to use his office to preserve the peace and stability that has been painstakingly built for the past three decades, and to prevent a return to the divisions of the past. Failing to do so would be a disservice to the next generation, who seek peace, prosperity, and a shared future."
