The Secretary of State said, referencing the PSNI (RUC):
the chief constable advised it would not be possible to enable the procession to happen without a major intervention which would carry unacceptable risk of serious injury, disorder and a wider contagion effect across Northern Ireland.
On this advice the Six-Counties Secretary decided to ban the Drumcree Parade, a decision which was announced on the evening of Friday 9th October much to the relief of the long- suffering residents on Garvaghy Road. Spokesperson for the residents, Breandán Mac Cionnaith, has called on the residents not to show signs of “triumphalism” reminding them this was not “cause for celebration” but time for “building bridges” with their neighbours. This measured response from Breandán was and continues to be in sharp contrast to the language used by the Orange Order’s chosen spokesperson, Jamie Bryson, who called the residents - who had conducted their affairs in a dignified manner - “a rabble”, and an unruly “mob”.
It was, of course, the correct decision by Chris Bryant but it still leaves a few issues unanswered like why after 28 years did the ‘Parades Commission fly in the face of every previous year since the signing of the ‘Good Friday Agreement’ which had prohibited the parade only to allow it this year? What was their thinking? After 28 years refusing the Orangemen’s requests to march down Garvaghy Road why this year the reversal? Why after all these years of relative peace did a bunch of supposed educated people decide to allow something which they knew, or at least must have strongly suspected, would shatter such peace? Surely, they were more than a little aware that their decision would cause resentment and lead to physical resistance which, of course, it did; fortunately not on the scale of the late 1990s.
Did the people who constitute this commission have any feelings at all for the Quinn family who lost three little boys, Richard, Mark, and Jason, when loyalist arsonists burnt out their home on 12th July 1998? What about the memory of Robert Hamill who was kicked to death by loyalists while the RUC reportedly looked on in April 1997, did they not consider his family? The Garvaghy resident’s original solicitor, Rosemary Nelson, was murdered by loyalists: did she count for nothing to the Parades Commission? All together twenty deaths related to the Garvaghy Road stand-off occurred, and the Parades Commission evidently did not even consider the feelings of families related to the deceased.
It must have felt to the residents of the Garvaghy Road like the bad old days had returned to their hitherto tranquil lives as the Orangemen massed ready to walk unwelcome through their area. It must have been akin to a Jewish community in 1920s Germany negatively experiencing a marching band and supporters of the Nazi Party walking through their locality! Or a BNP parade being given permission to march through Brixton, the British Movement through Bradford, or the NF through Moss Side, Manchester. Admittedly the Parades Commission did insert conditions on the march stating no instruments, no banners, and no more than 35 people to be in attendance. All the same the fact the Orange Order even if only two of them were walking, not as Protestants but as the Orange Order, symbolises the Orangemen’s perception of supremacy which was supposed to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
It must have felt to the residents of the Garvaghy Road like the bad old days had returned to their hitherto tranquil lives as the Orangemen massed ready to walk unwelcome through their area. It must have been akin to a Jewish community in 1920s Germany negatively experiencing a marching band and supporters of the Nazi Party walking through their locality! Or a BNP parade being given permission to march through Brixton, the British Movement through Bradford, or the NF through Moss Side, Manchester. Admittedly the Parades Commission did insert conditions on the march stating no instruments, no banners, and no more than 35 people to be in attendance. All the same the fact the Orange Order even if only two of them were walking, not as Protestants but as the Orange Order, symbolises the Orangemen’s perception of supremacy which was supposed to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
So on 9th October the ‘Secretary of State’ overturned the decision and ‘banned’ the march. On 9th October, RTEs The Late, Late Show, the First Minister, Michelle O’Neil, was a guest on the show and appeared shortly after Chris Bryant’s decision had been made public. Of course she was pleased, emphasising her pleasure in her praise of the decision for “common sense”.
In coming to this only logical decision he could, even on PSNI (RUC) advice, Chris Bryant has reemphasised who is really in charge of affairs in the Six-Counties and at the end of the day it is neither the Orange Order, Sinn Fein, nor the Garvaghy residents, it is the British government which is one facet of the British state which must remain a bone of contention!
The Orangemen’s appeal against Bryant’s decision which they immediately set in motion is to another arm of the British state, the Judiciary. On Saturday 10th October the Orangemen launched an appeal to the High Court in Belfast as a matter of urgency, only to be told “it was urgent” but did not “constitute an immediate weekend emergency requiring an out of hours decision” – the hearing was adjourned until Monday 12th October. At this hearing another adjournment of the Orange Orders Judicial Review until 19th October was ruled by Mr Justice Scoffield. On this date the name of PSNI (RUC) Chief Constable, Mr Jon Boutcher, along with Chris Bryant will be added as a second respondent thus widening the Orangemen’s judicial review . In a separate application for a judicial review this time by the residents of the Garvaghy Road of the Parades Commission’s original decision to allow the condensed march was rejected by Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan who held that the “challenge did not have a reasonable chance of success”.
The caveat in welcoming Chris Bryant’s decision, and this includes the Taoiseach Micheal Martin, is by de-facto this recognises and accepts British rule in the Six-Counties. It could be argued this has been accepted by various Twenty-Six County governments since partition and the Treaty of 1922 but now it can be reasonably taken that Sinn Fein also accept the ‘Kings writ’ runs in the North of Ireland. Many republicans would not unreasonably say “we told you this years ago”. Sinn Fein apparently now do accept British rule in the Six-Counties and still call themselves ‘Republicans’. Gerry Adams, former President of Sinn Fein, once said in AP/RN, of Fianna Fail who also call themselves since 1971 ‘The Republican Party’, “Fianna Fail are our first cousins”. Well Gerry, the family genes are certainly evident here in the family tree. Perhaps Chris Bryant could be invited to the next Sinn Fein Ard Fheis to give a little chat about why there will never be a border poll, to a rendition of 'For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.' Am I being a killjoy? No, not at all, I’m delighted for the residents that this nightmare not of their making is hopefully over though that is unfortunately not guaranteed. I’m just looking at the bigger picture who makes the rules for that corner of Ireland and because of their presence possible ramifications.
For many years the British side have tried to paint the ‘troubles’ in the Six-Counties as a sectarian conflict, and equally throughout those years occasions have occurred refuting this misconception. In the 1930s the British maintained any problems in “Northern Ireland” were down to religious persuasion and divides, a hugely erroneous perception. In 1932 poverty and unemployment hit the area and huge solidarity marches, much to the annoyance of the British and both churches, known as the ‘Outdoor Relief Scheme’ uniting Protestant and Catholic working-class people were on the streets. The Garvaghy Road stand off has once again proved this flawed premise to be a lie and will continue to be a falsehood while the British remain. Over 1,000 signatures in solidarity with the Garvaghy residents was signed and petitioned by the Protestant community of Portadown. This also stands as testimony the Orange Order do not represent the Protestant community as they would have the world believe they do.
The caveat in welcoming Chris Bryant’s decision, and this includes the Taoiseach Micheal Martin, is by de-facto this recognises and accepts British rule in the Six-Counties. It could be argued this has been accepted by various Twenty-Six County governments since partition and the Treaty of 1922 but now it can be reasonably taken that Sinn Fein also accept the ‘Kings writ’ runs in the North of Ireland. Many republicans would not unreasonably say “we told you this years ago”. Sinn Fein apparently now do accept British rule in the Six-Counties and still call themselves ‘Republicans’. Gerry Adams, former President of Sinn Fein, once said in AP/RN, of Fianna Fail who also call themselves since 1971 ‘The Republican Party’, “Fianna Fail are our first cousins”. Well Gerry, the family genes are certainly evident here in the family tree. Perhaps Chris Bryant could be invited to the next Sinn Fein Ard Fheis to give a little chat about why there will never be a border poll, to a rendition of 'For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.' Am I being a killjoy? No, not at all, I’m delighted for the residents that this nightmare not of their making is hopefully over though that is unfortunately not guaranteed. I’m just looking at the bigger picture who makes the rules for that corner of Ireland and because of their presence possible ramifications.
For many years the British side have tried to paint the ‘troubles’ in the Six-Counties as a sectarian conflict, and equally throughout those years occasions have occurred refuting this misconception. In the 1930s the British maintained any problems in “Northern Ireland” were down to religious persuasion and divides, a hugely erroneous perception. In 1932 poverty and unemployment hit the area and huge solidarity marches, much to the annoyance of the British and both churches, known as the ‘Outdoor Relief Scheme’ uniting Protestant and Catholic working-class people were on the streets. The Garvaghy Road stand off has once again proved this flawed premise to be a lie and will continue to be a falsehood while the British remain. Over 1,000 signatures in solidarity with the Garvaghy residents was signed and petitioned by the Protestant community of Portadown. This also stands as testimony the Orange Order do not represent the Protestant community as they would have the world believe they do.
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
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