A crowd gather at Garvaghy Road in Portadown ahead of the Orange Order march (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Crowds gathered in Portadown on Sunday morning under heavy rain after a ruling by the Parades Commission permitting the Orange Order to march on Garvaghy Road was upheld. The late-night sitting of the High Court in Belfast during which the go-ahead was given was described as “unprecedented” and took place just a few hours before the march was due to kick off.
The parade was scheduled to start, under several restrictions, at 8am. But it is currently being delayed as a large number of people are blocking Garvaghy Road. The parade marks the first time in nearly 30 years that members of the Orange Order are able to walk down the road.
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appealed for calm on all sides amid plans for an Orange Order parade to pass through a predominantly nationalist area of Northern Ireland for the first time in decades.
Thousands of protesters blocked the Garvaghy Road in Portadown in a bid to prevent the parade passing, following an overnight court ruling in Belfast which said the march could go ahead.
The Drumcree parade, which was associated with violent clashes during the Troubles, has been banned since 1998.
Amid the community tensions, the Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland, and we don’t want to see things go backwards”.
“I know it’s a tense situation. We do appeal for calm on all sides,” he told the programme.
The Prime Minister added: “So, obviously, a challenging situation today, but it’s very important that we work to bring calm.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant meanwhile said he was cutting his time at Labour’s party conference in Liverpool short to travel to Belfast and speak directly with leaders there.
Sir Chris also told the BBC he wished “we weren’t in this position”, adding: “I know lots of people will be watching this very, very closely, including people who have long memories of things that happened 30 years ago, and people will be very nervous and anxious.
“So the number one thing I think is people should co-operate with the police. I want everything to pass off as calmly as is possible.
“I’m speaking to the police obviously on a regular basis throughout the day, and was last night as well, and so is my team.”
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Situation unchanged
Protesters remain on the road amid heavy rain.
The weather has also taken a turn for the worse, with the Met Office issuing a yellow warning for rain for all but one county in Northern Ireland
‘I appeal to everyone to remain calm and peaceful’ – PSNI chief
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: “I’m unbelievably proud of my officers who, supported by mutual aid colleagues, are managing an exceptionally challenging situation.
“The policing operation thus far has helped ensure there has been no violence or disorder. We have an evidence gathering operation in place to detect any offences and will continue to do this throughout today.
“I appeal to everyone to remain calm and peaceful. I am immensely grateful for all those voices who have already called for calm. I would urge those with influence to encourage people to comply with the law and work with the police to keep everyone safe.
“Police are engaging and working with all parties and will continue to do so. It is incumbent on us all to come together at times like this to do all we can to preserve a peaceful Northern Ireland.”
March given the go-ahead after last-minute hearing
The march was given the go-ahead at a hearing which concluded at 2.15am on Sunday after opposing legal teams outlined their arguments over the controversial parade.
The hearing was one of three separate emergency legal cases heard before the courts in Belfast across Saturday and into early Sunday.
The final time-limited sitting, which began at 12.20am on Sunday, was heard before Justice Michael Humphreys.
During proceedings, he acknowledged the “unusual if not unprecedented circumstances as it is now 1.45am, with a parade scheduled to begin in just over six hours’ time”.
Outlining his decision, Justice Humphreys cited case law that as a public body the courts must respect the commission’s judgment and “their decisions will not be lightly interfered with”.
He said: “The picture painted here is of a public body which took evidence from the relevant sources, weighed up the key issues which were in play and arrived at a reasoned decision.
“The jurisdiction to impugn (a) public body’s decision on that basis is necessarily limited to cases where no reasonable decision could arrive at that outcome and in my view, in this case that threshold has not been met.”
He added: “This court cannot substitute its own view or anyone else’s view for that of the commission.”
Earlier, Northern Ireland’s most senior judge, Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, also described the situation as “unprecedented” as she presided over the second challenge.
Justices Keegan and Humphreys joined Lady Justice Denise McBride in the Court of Appeal which, in the late hours of Saturday, upheld an appeal by Portadown Orangeman Alan Hynes to allow the march to go ahead. That appeal was heard after a temporary injunction was issued in the first legal challenge on Saturday that would have prevented Sunday’s parade from happening as scheduled.
In that initial ruling, Justice Patricia Smyth blocked the Parades Commission’s decision, saying the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.
Chris Bryant cutting attendance at Labour conference short
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant is cutting short his attendance at the Labour Party conference to return to Northern Ireland.
He added he is taking the situation “very, very seriously”.
Mr Bryant told BBC News NI that any protest is “unlawful”.
He added: “I would urge people to cooperate with the police. I would say that on both sides incidentally.”
Andy Burnham: ‘It’s a tense situation’
The Prime Minister said to have spoken to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant this morning and Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday.
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on her BBC programme, he said: “I know it’s a tense situation and we appeal for calm on all sides.
“There have been big gains made in Northern Ireland and we don’t want to see things go backwards.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham (Image: Getty)
March set to start at 8am – but delayed by protest
The Orange Order march was set to take off at 8am.
However, protesters gathered in the early hours on Garvaghy Road to block the road.
Following a late-night hearing, the Orange Order members were given the go-ahead to march through the mostly nationalist area.
Protesters block the Garvaghy road (Image: Peter Morrison/PA Wire)
Parade taking place under restrictions
The parade is set to begin, and attendees have to follow strict restrictions set out by the Parades Commission.
A maximum of 35 members of the Orange Order can walk down Garvaghy Road, nearly half the number proposed by the Portadown District of the Orange Order in its application.
The members will not be allowed to be accompanied by supporters or bands.
People blocking the road before the parade
A crowd was photographed blocking Garvaghy Road before the beginning of the parade.
People blocking the road before the parade (Image: Getty Images)
Protesters issued warning
Thousands of protesters gathering on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown have been notified on a loudspeaker that they are liable for arrest for taking part in an unnoticed parade.
The announcement was made around 15 minutes before the Orange Order march was due to begin on Sunday at 8am.
Parade of 35 Orangemen scheduled to begin at 8am
The Garvaghy Road residents’ appeal against the Parades Commission decision to allow the Orange Order to march down the Portadown street has been remitted to the High Court.
The time-limited one hour hearing beginning at 00.20am on Sunday is being heard before Justice Michael Humphreys.
The parade of 35 Orangemen was scheduled to begin at 8am on Sunday.
Northern Ireland’s most senior judge, Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan described the situation as “unprecedented”.
Welcome to our live blog
Welcome to our live blog. We’ll bring you the latest on the parade taking place today in Garvaghy Road.
Andy Burnham faces his first revolt – Angela Rayner just couldn’t keep her mouth shut
If you thought all was sweetness and light in Andy Burnham’s Labour, you haven’t been watching Angela Rayner.
Angela Rayner has a nerve, going for a fellow cabinet minister (Image: Getty)
The Labour Party conference begins in Liverpool today and on the face of it, it’s going to be very different to the last one. A year ago, Andy Burnham was persona non grata. Ministers took turns sneering at the King of the North’s ambitions to become PM, while pledging their loyalty to Sir Keir Starmer. You won’t find many Starmer loyalists today, although one or two will be drifting about, muttering old mantras about “difficult decisions”. But behind the smiles, frustrations are growing and knives are being sharpened.
No prizes for guessing who’s first to wield hers. It had to be Angela Rayner, didn’t it? Probably the last thing Burnham needed right now was for Red Ange to take on the most toxic subject of the lot: immigration. And use it to shaft a senior member of his cabinet – Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Rayner attacked Mahmood’s migrant crackdown right on the eve of conference, despite knowing exactly what a fuss it would cause. She repeated her criticism of plans to make foreign care workers wait 15 years for permanent residence, saying Labour had “changed the goalposts”.
It’s not the first time she’s lunged for Mahmood. Rayner knows she has plenty of support, which only makes it worse. More than 100 Labour MPs have opposed Mahmood’s reforms, while trade unions are also campaigning against them. Unison is holding a migrant care worker rally in Liverpool on Monday. Lucky Mahmood.
I admire Mahmood, a minister who rolls up her sleeves and cracks on, running the hardest Whitehall department of the lot. She’s the only one who stuck to her job in a sea of incompetence that was the Starmer regime. She doesn’t indulge in political posturing, unlike our firebrand Housing Secretary.
Many will sympathise with Rayner’s complaint that it’s unfair to recruit care workers from overseas, then tighten settlement rules later. But this is a tough area, and Mahmood has to make tough decisions. She doesn’t deserve to have Rayner exploit the issue to milk applause from the left.
It’s the last thing Andy Burnham needs as well. He’s shied away from toxic issues like this one, hoping to treat the nation to some feel-good political fun. Then up steps Rayner at the worst possible time.
When it comes to stepping on the toes of other cabinet ministers, Rayner has form. Remember how she handed a list of tax demands to former chancellor Rachel Reeves? While doing incoherent things with her own tax return. Knows no shame, our Ange. And she won’t be the only Labour delegate involved in a bit of red-on-red brutality in Liverpool.
Starmer’s former business secretary Peter Kyle is arguing for a more vigorous approach to wealth creation. That won’t win friends on the backbenches. They only want to tax wealth, not generate it.
Starmer’s former chief secretary Darren Jones, the man who pointed out that Burnham’s plan to cut VAT on electricity bills wasn’t properly funded, may also be willing to speak a bit of truth to the new power.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has even argued that the EU isn’t the answer to all Britain’s problems, which will have delegates blocking their ears. Then there’ll be the usual rabble of leftie activists, ranting on about Gaza, demanding Burnham nationalises the water companies, berating North Sea drilling and, of course, having a pop at Mahmood.
Plus there’ll be some real crackpots who are still furious that Burnham didn’t make Ed Miliband chancellor and destroy British capitalism for good. Instead, they’ve got boring old John Healey, banging on about sticking to fiscal rules. None of the faithful flocking to Liverpool wants to hear that. Meet the new Labour Party, increasingly similar to the old one. Angela Rayner hasn’t changed her spots at all.