Kneecap visit Garvaghy Road to show support for residents

Irish language rap group Kneecap have visited the Garvaghy Road to show support for residents as a renewed dispute over an Orange Order parade continues.

Hundreds gathered on the road in Portadown on Sunday evening as the group met residents.

Their visit came on the eve of an expected Court of Appeal hearing over a decision allowing the Portadown District Orange Lodge to march along the road, something local residents strongly oppose.

The Portadown District maintains that it has a lawful determination allowing the parade to proceed, and has repeatedly attempted to begin the march over the past week, including on Sunday morning.

On Sunday, Portadown District Master Nigel Dawson said that police were "unable or unwilling" to implement the decision.

In a statement issued to the Press Association after their visit, Kneecap said they support the residents of Garvaghy Road, and described them as a "determined and strong community".

The group did not perform during their visit.

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, from the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, told BBC News NI that was a "very deliberate decision".

"Kneecap isn't everyone's cup of tea but they wanted to come down, show a bit of solidarity to the kids in the area. They visited the the gaelscoil and bunscoil (Irish language schools), the youth club and community centre. That was their primary focus," Mac Cionnaith said.

On the expected court hearing on Monday, Mac Cionnaith said he "didn't want to pre-judge any outcomes".

Media reports on Sunday suggested that the Orange Order has offered to walk away and never return if they secure one last march along the Garvaghy Road.

Speaking on this, Mac Cionnaith said: "There was an agreement beforehand by the Orange Order that they would have their final march on the Garvaghy Road. They had their final march on the Garvaghy Road, and they threw it back in our community's face and said they would be down the road the following year.

"That's the fact. That's the reality."

He added: "Could we trust that organisation again, or trust any of their representatives?

Earlier, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald told the BBC's Sunday Politics programme that her party will cooperate with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) over any potential investigation into the protest on the Garvaghy Road.

Speaking on Sunday, Portadown District Master Nigel Dawson said police confirmed to them that Saturday's gathering on the Garvaghy Road was "unnotified" and police were "taking evidence".

McDonald and Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill are among those who have attended the protest, which police have described as unnotified and "therefore illegal".

The Portadown District has maintained a presence at Drumcree Church after talks to end the parading dispute ended without agreement on Thursday.

On Sunday evening, members of the Portadown District attended a prayer service in the town.

On the Garvaghy Road protest, the PSNI said that anyone "found to have broken the law will face criminal justice consequences".

However, McDonald told Sunday Politics: "There are moments in political life where you have to take a stand, and this is one of those moments."

When asked about the legality of the protest she said: "Others will determine whether or not that is in fact the case."

The Parades Commission's decided that the parade - which is opposed by residents of the Garvaghy Road - could go ahead on Sunday 27 September with restrictions.

A fresh legal bid by the residents to prevent the march was due to be heard on Friday - but has now been postponed until Monday.

Speaking of how many times the Portadown District have attempted to proceed with their march in the past week, District Master Nigel Dawson told BBC News NI: "I think it's 15 times we have attempted to implement the determination issued by the Parades Commission and re-enforced by a High Court judge."

He said that "on each and every occasion the message from the PSNI headquarters is they are unable to offer us safe passage down the road".

"So we continue to be here waiting for the chief constable to apply the law to a lawful determination," Dawson said.

"Obviously I'm not involved in policing matters and we respect the police but I suspect that time is running out, that he can't continue to say that he is unable to his job."

The actions of McDonald, O'Neill and others have received condemnation including from members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

In a post on social media, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the "behaviour of Michelle O'Neill and her party has been disgraceful" and a "complete abdication of leadership".

McDonald said that this "comes down to right and wrong", and that as people who care passionately about the future, she and O'Neill know that for "that to happen we have to stand four square with the community of the Garvaghy Road".

She said there was a "broad crowd politically and otherwise" at the rally on Saturday, adding that it was "resolute but good humoured with a real eye for the future".

Meanwhile, in response to DUP leader Gavin Robinson's comments that Sinn Féin is attempting to goad unionists into collapsing Stormont, McDonald said it is "anything but", adding that it is about the ability of communities to live work, and build futures together.

Speaking to BBC News NI at Drumcree on Saturday, DUP MP Carla Lockhart said there could be "repercussions for a very long time if mob rule wins over the rule of law".

"No, we need the police service to step up and do their job. I do think if the real residents step forward we can and should discuss further options and resolutions, because we do want to see this resolved," Lockhart said.

McDonald said that "the real voices of the Garvaghy Road" have called for support and people to come stand for them and "my god have they had a response, not just in Ireland but right across the world".

McDonald said her party has pressed Northern Ireland Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant and Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin.

Speaking at a Fianna Fáil dinner on Saturday, Martin said that "absolutely nobody benefits from the reopening of the dispute over the parade on the Garvaghy Road".

In a social media post on Sunday, Sir Chris said he is "pleased that events have passed this weekend in Portadown without major incident".

"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."

McDonald said the resolution is that Sir Chris needs to "call this, make it clear that he puts a stop to this march and thereby creates the space for a mediation".

Elsewhere on Sunday, a number of people carried a cross from Craigwell Avenue to St Mark's Church in Portadown under the 'Carry the Cross Initiative'.

Organisers intended to depart from Drumcree Parish Church, but the Parades Commission determined it was necessary to alter the assembly and departure point of the parade "so that it avoids the areas where tensions are currently heightened".

Organisers said the initiative had been "strictly curtailed" following the determination, which also limited the gathering to fewer than 10 people.

The organisers are appealing for "healing, unity and genuine reconciliation across Portadown, pointing to the unifying message of the cross of Christ to break decades of division".

Drumcree was one of Northern Ireland's most serious parading disputes, when stand-offs over attempts by the Orange Order to march along the Garvaghy Road were accompanied by riots, roadblocks and killings.

When the Orange Order was prevented by police from walking down the route in July 1995, there was a tense stand-off. It was the same for the next three years.

In 1998, the newly-established Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down the road - a decision that was upheld for the past 28 years.

The row re-emerged last month after a court case in which a ruling by the Parades Commission was overturned, and a fresh application to parade was lodged.

Last Friday, the commission decided that the march could go ahead with restrictions in place.

However, that decision was challenged in several Belfast courts on Saturday, before finally being given the go-ahead just hours before it was due to take place.