Garvaghy Road residents launch fresh legal bid to stop parade as talks fail to reach resolution

LAST UPDATE | 29 Sep

LAWYERS FOR THE Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition have issued a fresh legal bid to prevent the Drumcree march, as crunch talks finished on today without a breakthrough.

The fresh application to the Court of Appeal in Belfast argues 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.

A number of Orange Order members remain at Drumcree Church expecting to be allowed to begin their permitted parade, which would pass along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

However, protesters have maintained a presence at the side of the road, insisting that the parade should not be allowed to proceed.

It is the latest challenge to the march, which was given the go ahead after three separate legal hearings over the course of 13 hours late on Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning.

The hearing of the residents’ new challenge is listed for Friday.

It came as both sides in the ongoing Drumcree parading stalemate were brought in for crunch talks with the Northern Ireland Secretary.

Chris Bryant met with the residents’ coalition as well as representatives for the Orange Order in Portadown who were prevented from marching down Garvaghy Road on Sunday.

The talks ended without a breakthrough on this evening, and are expected to resume on Wednesday.

‘This is madness’: Sinn Féin meet Taoiseach and Tánaiste

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill met Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris this evening to urge the Irish government to intervene directly with the British government over the Garvaghy Road stand-off.

McDonald said she and the First Minister asked Martin and Harris to press Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant to use his powers to stop the Orange Order parade from proceeding along Garvaghy Road.

Speaking on her way into the meeting, McDonald accused Bryant of “sitting on his hands” in relation to the matter.

“The march has to be stopped, and the person with the discretion to do that is the British Secretary of State,” McDonald said.

Following the meeting, O’Neill said they asked the Irish government to intervene directly with the British prime minister Andy Burnham.

“Because what we need to do is for them to step in and actually stop this madness that’s happening on the Garvaghy Road,” she said.

Despite the pressure from Sinn Féin, the government’s position remains that the situation is more complex than presented by Sinn Féin. 

During leaders’ questions in the Dáil today, McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he would ask Bryant to call off the march. In response, the Taoiseach said the solution wasn’t as simple as that and that the Irish government remained in contact with their British counterparts as talks continued at Hillsborough Castle.

In a statement following the meeting with the Sinn Féin leaders tonight, a spokesperson for the government said the Taoiseach and Tánaiste emphasised the importance of protecting the gains of the peace process and the “responsibility of everyone to contribute positively to finding a way through the current situation”.

“The Government will continue to work towards that end, and to engage with key representatives from all sides,” the spokesperson said.

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste welcomed that exploratory talks around the possibility of mediation are taking place this afternoon at Hillsborough.

Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee is to meet Bryant in Belfast this evening to discuss the ongoing situation in Drumcree.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and deputy president and First Minister Michelle O Neill are just gone in to meet with the Taoiseach & Tánaiste to discuss the situation on Garvaghy Road.

They are urging the Irish Government to intervene directly with NI Secretary of State. pic.twitter.com/m5ogth9oCw

— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) September 29, 2026

Trauma

“You couldn’t overstate the kind of trauma that has now been revisited on the community,” McDonald said this evening.

“Community life is completely disrupted. People’s family lives are completely disrupted.”

The meeting between Sinn Féin and the Irish government comes as the stand-off in Portadown enters its third day, after protesters gathered on Garvaghy Road on Sunday and prevented an Orange Order parade permitted by the Parades Commission from proceeding.

Illegal protest

O’Neill and other Sinn Féin representatives have been accused of breaking the law by participating in the protest against the Orange Order march on Sunday and of undermining the legitimacy of the courts in Northern Ireland, which had ruled the march could proceed. 

Asked if she believes she is above the law, O’Neill responded: 

“What I think is that right is always right, and this community needs our support right now. And I will continue to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents. They’re under siege…There is a minority in our community out there that are trying to reverse the progress of the last 28 years. I am not going to allow that to happen.”

Asked if she is concerned about the precedent this sits for future first ministers, O’Neill said:

“My first priority right now is the people of the Garvaghy Road and their rights, and I will continue to stand with them. That’s what we’re focused on.”

McDonald added: 

“I would really hope that the precedent that Michelle has set, which is a precedent of doing the right thing…to stand with people when their most basic right to go about their lives without fear and without intimidation, to live a life in which they do not face sectarian harassment…I really hope, actually, that that is a precedent that other people would adopt.”

The scene Monday evening on the Garvaghy Road. Rolling News

Members of the Orange Order have remained at Drumcree Church, while efforts to find a resolution have continued.

Garvaghy Road residents are also due to meet Bryant at Hillsborough Castle this evening, where they will reiterate that they will not accept the parade proceeding through the area.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and deputy president and First Minister Michelle O Neill are just gone in to meet with the Taoiseach & Tánaiste to discuss the situation on Garvaghy Road.

They are urging the Irish Government to intervene directly with NI Secretary of State. pic.twitter.com/m5ogth9oCw

— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) September 29, 2026

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Asked what his message to Bryant would be as he arrived for the meeting, Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition representative Breandán Mac Cionnaith said: “Reroute the sectarian parade, that’s it.”

Mac Cionnaith said residents had submitted a petition signed by almost 4,000 people opposing the parade.

The residents have said they are willing to enter mediation aimed at finding a long-term resolution to the Drumcree dispute and have called for an international mediator with conflict-resolution experience from outside Ireland and Britain.

Bryant held talks with residents and representatives of the Orange Order on Monday as he explored possible ways to resolve the stand-off.

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Bryant. Alamy Stock Photo

Earlier today, Martin told the Dáil that there was “no need for a parade to go down the Garvaghy Road”, citing the history of violence and trauma associated with the dispute.

The Taoiseach said the government was “deeply concerned” by recent events and warned there was a real risk that progress in community relations in Northern Ireland could be set back.

He has backed the appointment of an independent international mediator in an effort to find a way forward.

Tánaiste Simon Harris also strongly criticised the Parades Commission decision today, saying it had “got this extraordinarily wrong”.

“The decision of the Parades Commission has been very triggering, traumatic and devastating for a community that has suffered far too much,” Harris said.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik, meanwhile, told the Dáil that Bryant should be prepared to use his powers under Section 11 of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 to prohibit the parade if mediation fails.

Bryant has called on all sides to “double down on compromise” and returned from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today to continue efforts to resolve the dispute.

International mediator

The Garvaghy Road Residents’ Association has said it is willing to enter mediation aimed at finding a long-term resolution to the Drumcree dispute.

Breandán Mac Cionnaith said residents wanted any mediator to have experience in conflict resolution and to come from outside Ireland and Britain.

Asked about this today, McEntee said: “That’s likely the direction that we’re going in, and I think that would be welcome on all sides.”

“I think it’s important that we have someone that would understand the situation first and foremost, because it’s a very complex situation, and as we know, there has been significant trauma and there have been significant challenges over the years,” the minister added.

With reporting by PA