Orange actions made ban inevitable, says Rodgers

The decision taken by the Parades Commission to ban the Portadown Orangemen and the Protestant civil rights march, the Long March…

The decision taken by the Parades Commission to ban the Portadown Orangemen and the Protestant civil rights march, the Long March, from parading down the nationalist Garvaghy road has been welcomed by the SDLP and strongly criticised by anti-agreement unionists.

According to Ms Brid Rodgers, the SDLP representative in the Portadown area, the banning of the Portadown District's march was inevitable because of the Orange Order's standoff at Drumcree and protest parades over the last 12 months.

The absence and refusal of dialogue had led to the decision being taken by the commission, she added.

One of the organisers of the Long March, Mr Norman Boyd of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party, said he was disgusted at the ruling by the Parades Commission to place restrictions on the 10-day march, billed by organisers as a parade for Protestant civil rights.

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The parades commission has placed restrictions on the march as it leaves Lurgan, Co Armagh on July 4th and has refused it permission to march down the Garvaghy Road.

"I am horrified and disgusted that in this part of the United Kingdom Protestants are denied their human rights. To the head of our march are the innocent victims of republican violence. Is that who nationalists feel are intimidating and insulting them?" said Mr Boyd.

Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, welcomed the commission's determination and said the community would welcome it.

Mr Denis Watson, Co Armagh Grand Master, said the Orangemen would hold a "peaceful and dignified" protest at Drumcree in response to the ruling.