Politics
Court clears Orange Order's long-banned Portadown march as protesters block route
September 27, 2026 at 04:30 PM · Updated 18d ago
Coverage
6 reports · 1 in Arabic, 5 in English · over 11 hours
TGThe Guardian
Drumcree standoff shows Northern Ireland’s troubled past still threatens its peace
(opens the publisher’s site)
TGThe Guardian
Tense standoff over loyalist march in Portadown as protesters block route
(opens the publisher’s site)
BNBBC News
Orange Order march row goes to heart of ongoing divisions in Northern Ireland
(opens the publisher’s site)
AJAl Jazeera Arabic
مسيرة بروتستانتية تعيد شبح التوتر لأيرلندا الشمالية وبيرنهام يدعو للهدوء
(opens the publisher’s site)
AJAl Jazeera English
Northern Ireland court allows Orange Order march through Catholic area
(opens the publisher’s site)
BNBBC News
Compromise urged as protesters block contentious Orange Order march
(opens the publisher’s site)Northern Ireland's courts upheld an Orange Order parade on the Garvaghy Road for the first time since 1998, prompting a standoff with protesters.
- The Parades Commission approved a scaled-back 35-member silent march, and the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling early Sunday.
- Hundreds of nationalist protesters blocked the Garvaghy Road while police kept the marchers inside a church hall.
- Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald called the decision "madness," and first minister Michelle O'Neill said it brought the peace process into question.
- DUP lawmakers accused O'Neill of "whipping up hysteria" at an "unlawful" protest, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham appealed for calm.
- Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the High Court ruling allowing the march as 'incomprehensible and wrong.'
- Northern Ireland's Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan said the decision contained an 'error in law.'
- DUP leader Gavin Robinson accused First Minister Michelle O'Neill of breaking the law and breaching her pledge of office by joining the protest.
- Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant returned from Labour conference for talks, urging both sides to 'double down on compromise'.
- Residents' coalition leader Breandán Mac Cionnaith vowed to 'stop them permanently' following the court's decision.