SDLP insists Orangemen will not be let down road

The SDLP insisted last night the Orange Order would not be allowed to parade down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. But the Residents' Coalition expressed its fear that the most controversial parade in the Orange calendar would once again get down the Garvaghy Road.

Ms Brid Rodgers, an SDLP Assembly member for the area, said she had been "absolutely reassured by the highest levels in both governments that the Parade Commission's decision is being implemented and will continue to be implemented".

Earlier, the coalition spokesman, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, protested at the thousands of Orangemen allowed to parade to Drumcree church yesterday when the original parade they filed for involved only Portadown District. He believed there was a "possibility of a repeat of 1996 when the standoff was eventually overthrown by the might of force from the Orange Order".

At a press conference late yesterday afternoon, he said if the British government "is intent on upholding the Parades Commission decision, it must take action to prevent further numbers of loyalists from making their way into Portadown."

Ms Rosemary Nelson, solicitor for the coalition, said the ruling was already being breached. The Orangemen should have dispersed or gone back by their original route after the service. They were not allowed to gather, which they were currently doing.

But Ms Rodgers insisted there was no question of not fully implementing the Parades Commission's decision. "The Chief Constable has already reiterated that he will implement the legal determination that has been made."

She said it was a question of the authority of the state. "It must be asserted and no state can afford to give into threats from any section of the community which is defying its legitimate authority."

For nationalists in the area, the first sighting of the Orange presence was at 11 a.m. yesterday. The leaders of the parade of about 7,000 Orangemen had reached the roundabout on the Dungannon Road beside the Catholic Church of St John the Baptist.

Mass had finished shortly before and some church-goers, and other residents, gathered behind the security gates blocking the road and behind the barbed wire set out around the church. Sinn Fein Assembly members Mr Francie Molloy and Ms Dara O'Hagan were among the crowd, which also included some of the 79 international observers from North America and South Africa.

RUC officers stood in front of the church, one facing the nationalists, the next facing the Orangemen along the church perimeter.

Mr Mac Cionnaith told everyone to stay well back. The Orangemen marched by, some glancing over at the residents as a single drum beat was sounded by each band as it went by. It took 15 minutes for the parade to pass the church. Afterwards, most of those standing around had left the church when another Orange parade, of about 200, with the Order's Grand Master, Mr Robert Saulters, went by.

At the security force cordon near the church, two loyalists managed to breach the first line of the blockade before they were arrested and taken away by RUC officers.

Policemen in fire-retardant boilersuits stood by, along with a large army presence, and everyone waited. At 12.25 the service in Drumcree Church ended to the sound of God Save the Queen, and a huge cheer went up from the thousands of Orangemen and others standing outside the church. Some 25 minutes later, the colour party of the Orange Order marched down to the barricade to sustained applause from the Orangemen.

Back up the road at the first of the houses on the nationalist side, the Sinn Fein Assembly members, Mr Molloy and Ms O'Hagan, along with Mr Mac Cionnaith, were not let through by the RUC to get down to the media at the barricade.

Mr Mac Cionnaith said to an officer an assurance "given by your Security Minister, Adam Ingram, that we would have access to whatever area we wanted" had been broken.

Mr Mac Cionnaith said residents were concerned that a crane was still beside the barricade which which could dismantle it in minutes.

But one nationalist said: "This year is the psychological year" and there would be no more discussions on this year's parade. Any talk of accommodation would have to wait until the Orangemen and other loyalists dispersed and went home. Then everyone could look at the residents' offer "rejected on Friday" by the Orange Order, which would include a civic forum involving everyone, on the area's economy, social and political future.