Irish rap trio Kneecap visited Portadown on Sunday night to show support for the Garvaghy Road residents at the centre of the contentious Drumcree parade dispute.
Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí – Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh – went to a local school before meeting residents at the Drumcree Community Centre on Sunday. They were then swarmed by fans of all ages as they were led up the Garvaghy Road by the spokesman for the residents’ coalition, Breandán Mac Cionnaith.
The Belfast-based stars posed for selfies as volunteer stewards tried to keep fans off the road and allow the progress of vehicle traffic. Hundreds of people had lined the street in advance of their arrival, but a stage which has been used for speeches in recent days was covered off, and the three musicians did not perform or formally address the crowd.
Visit comes amid legal challenge
They stopped briefly in a tent at the junction which leads up to the Drumcree Parish church – where the Orange Order aims to march from – before turning around and leaving the area by car. They were accompanied by their solicitor Darragh Mackin, who also represents the residents, as well as their manager Daniel Lambert and Irish folk singer Radie Peat.
The visit came on the eve of a fresh legal challenge launched by the residents against the parade – as the sustained stand-off continued eight days after the loyal order march was originally supposed to go ahead. A major policing operation had been put in place for the weekend, with both sides in the dispute organising rallies to bolster support, with positions entrenched in the run-up to a further legal challenge.
Background to the dispute
The dispute arose after Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission gave the green light for the unionist Orange Order – backed by the DUP and TUV – to march through Garvaghy Road for the first time in 30 years. The stand-off at Drumcree made headlines in the 1990s, with incidents of violence for several summers and political tension necessitating a major security operation.
Residents in the largely nationalist area around the road – backed by Sinn Féin, the SDLP and People Before Profit – are opposed to the parade, which was due to start on the morning of Sunday September 27, and unsuccessfully fought the decision in court last weekend. Several residents then protested by blocking the 35-man contingent of the Portadown District Orange Order from progressing through Garvaghy Road last Sunday morning, resulting in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) refusing to give the march the go-ahead to proceed.
Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission adjudication body. Police have confirmed the protest was unnotified to the commission and therefore unlawful. Several high-profile politicians, including Northern Ireland First Minister and Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill, participated in the unnotified protest. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she and her party will “of course” co-operate with the PSNI over any potential investigation into the Garvaghy Road protest.
Stand-off continues
Sunday marked the eighth day of a stand-off which has seen the Orangemen try numerous times to begin the march, but the road remains blocked by residents. After being denied permission to march by the PSNI at lunchtime on Sunday, Portadown District master Nigel Dawson told the Orangemen they had the support of the community, and added: “We continue to abide by the law and continue to show that every single minute and every single hour of the day since we won the court case.
“And of course we still await – and it is important we say this, that we have a police service in Northern Ireland that are at this moment in time unable or unwilling to police a court judgment.” A police inspector had told them the service recognises the Parades Commission decision was still in force but said it was necessary to close the road for the preservation of peace and order because of circumstances on Garvaghy Road.
The talks process saw calls for an international mediator to be appointed, and it is also understood that a proposal for a “one-and-done” march, which would see the parade go ahead but without any further applications, was also floated but not agreed to. A fresh legal bid against the march is to be heard at the Court of Appeal in Belfast on Monday, with lawyers for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition arguing that the Parades Commission had “materially misdirected itself” on the police assessment of the potential for disorder and had not given an “accurate representation of the evidence received from PSNI” in its decision. Mr Dawson said they “remain confident” in their legal team ahead of the hearing.
Political reactions
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant, who had appealed for calm in the run-up to the weekend, said he was “pleased” that events in Portadown passed “without major incident”. Sir Chris said: “I continue to speak with people of goodwill on all sides and believe a mutually agreeable solution is still possible if people can show leadership based on openness, compromise and magnanimity.”
At a major rally on Garvaghy Road on Saturday, Ms O’Neill said the right outcome “includes no march down this road” as Sinn Féin called on Sir Chris to use his powers to prohibit the march. Deputy First Minister and DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly described that rally as “electioneering” as she criticised Ms O’Neill and Sinn Féin for a “complete abdication of leadership”.
After the rally in support of the residents on Saturday, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said anyone blocking the Garvaghy Road will still be treated as “participating in an unnotified and therefore illegal protest”. The senior officer said evidence gathering remains ongoing and anyone found to have broken the law “will face criminal justice consequences”.
Attention now turns to Monday morning’s new legal challenge at the Court of Appeal in Belfast, which had been pushed back to allow the talks – which ended without agreement on Friday – to continue. Jamie Bryson, loyalist activist and legal adviser to the Portadown District, previously said the Orangemen will accept the determination of the courts on Monday, challenging Garvaghy Road residents to do the same.
In a speech on Saturday, Mr Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, said there was “no logical reason” why the Orange march should proceed “through the heart of this community”, contending an alternative route “back the way they came” was available. “Garvaghy Road was solved in 1998, it does not need to be solved again.”
Mr Mac Cionnaith said: “Westminster thinks we must make concessions – we have nothing left to concede.” He added: “Only one decision that’ll be acceptable: There should be no Orange march – none at all.”
