Noel Gallagher, Susan Sarandon and Adrian Dunbar are among 48 signatories to a letter backing Garvaghy Road residents in the Northern Ireland report on an 11-day deadlock over a parade in Portadown. The letter was addressed to Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant and called for work with the Irish government on an independent international mediator.
Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners said the letter “originated from an honest response to the situation on the Garvaghy Road” and that it came from “those of us looking on from afar.” He said it was “an organic process inspired by the courage of the residents,” and that the signatories wanted to amplify, not replace, local voices.
Sir Chris Bryant and Garvaghy Road
The letter said “central to any just resolution must be the primacy and protection of the local community.” It added that residents should be protected from “any form of forced processions” that disregard consent, safety and the right to live in peace free from intimidation.
That message lands in a dispute that had already stretched for 11 days between Garvaghy Road residents and the local Orange Order over the proposed march in Portadown, County Armagh. The stalemate has reopened what was once the most bitter parading dispute in Northern Ireland, and the letter joins other appeals to Sir Chris from members of the Protestant community and from MPs and Members of Congress in the US.
Orange Order statement on Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, the Orange Order said “the lawful 35 continue to stand ready to exercise the legal right” they said they had “established for the first time in 28 years.” It urged the PSNI to “take positive steps to implement the determination” and said it had seen no proper effort being made.
The Orange Order also said a court would have to scrutinise the matter in due course. It added: “We will not give up that legal right, as to do so would be to legitimise mob rule. We will continue our dignified, peaceful and lawful stand.”
Independent mediator question
The immediate question is whether Sir Chris Bryant and the Irish government will appoint the independent international mediator the letter seeks. Until that happens, both sides are still pressing incompatible claims over consent, legal right and how the stand-off should be resolved.
