Eastwood says reopening Drumcree dispute risks jeopardising progress elsewhere including Derry

The SDLP Foyle MP was speaking as members of the Orange Order in Portadown indicated they would be notifying the Parades Commission of a proposed demonstration through the nationalist Garvaghy Road in the North Armagh town.

The Orange Order have been banned from marching the route since 1998. The mooted attempt to resurrect the parade follows the quashing by a High Court judge of a decision to bar the Orange Order from part of the flashpoint Drumcree marching route during the summer.

The outcome was reached after the Parades Commission conceded a procedural error in how it dealt with an annual application for permission to walk along the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh. Not all six members of the public authority had signed off on the final determination before it was issued last month.

Flanked by unionist politicians following an emergency meeting on Monday Portadown District Master, Nigel Dawson, insisted the Orange Order had a ‘legal right’ to complete the parade. On Thursday the Portadown Orange District Loyal Orange Lodge 1 said it would be applying for 60 Orangemen to walk the Garvaghy Road on September 27.

But Mr. Eastwood said reopening the dispute risked undermining progress made elsewhere. He pointed to the positive work that has taken place over many years to accommodate parading in Derry.

“People could be forgiven for asking what year it is with some unionist leaders desperately attempting to reopen the Drumcree parading dispute at a time of scandal and with an election looming.

"To be clear – there is no doubt that the Parades Commission handled the recent application badly and that fundamental change is needed within the organisation. But those mistakes do not put marching down the Garvaghy Road back on the table,” he said.

Thirty years ago the Drumcree parading dispute led to significant civil unrest at its epicentre in Portadown and throughout the North, including Derry. Rioting erupted in Derry in July 1996 when the Orange Order was allowed to parade along the Garvaghy Road against the wishes of its nationalist residents. Over 200 people were reportedly injured during fierce disturbances in Derry city centre and the William Street and Rossville Street area that summer. Local man Dermot McShane, aged 35, was tragically killed when a British army Army Saxon armoured vehicle crushed him on Little James Street on July 12, 1996.

Following developments since the High Court ruling Mr. Eastwood said: “I cannot understand the shortsightedness of unionist politicians pursuing this issue, raising tensions across society and creating expectations when there is no prospect of success.

"In places like Derry, hard work has been done over many years to allow parades to take place. Reopening old disputes risks undermining that progress. It’s one strategic mistake after another. Nobody wants to go back to the dark days of Drumcree and the people of the Garvaghy Road have been clear that they do not want this parade taking place.

"Instead of fanning these flames, we need to see unionist politicians and the Orange Order showing leadership, taking a step back and getting real before damage is caused that cannot be undone.”