Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has banned the Drumcree Orange Order parade scheduled for 27 September, after a 13-day standoff between Orangemen and nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher advised Bryant that police could not safely enable the procession without "a major intervention which would carry an unacceptable risk of serious injury, disorder and a wider contagion effect across Northern Ireland". Boutcher told the secretary of state that "all available, lawful and proportionate options to facilitate completion of the procession had been exhausted" and that remaining options would require "substantial public order intervention" with "catastrophic long-term consequences for trust and confidence in policing, but for the Northern Ireland Executive and the peace process."
The Parades Commission had originally ruled the march could proceed with restrictions, but nationalist protesters blocked the Garvaghy Road on the scheduled date. Under UK legislation, a secretary of state can overturn a Parades Commission determination with police input. Bryant concluded that "the circumstances under which that decision was made have now changed considerably" and that "in the interests of wider public interest and safety" the parade cannot go ahead.
The decision was welcomed by Sinn Féin and the SDLP. Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said the "awful threat and this sense of menace has been lifted from the community" and called it a situation where "right has won out here." Breandán Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition stated the decision was a win "tinged with sadness and with loss", noting the long campaign required to reach this point.
The Portadown District Orange Lodge said the chief constable had "abdicated his responsibility" and accused the secretary of state of bowing to "the republican mob" and rewarding "criminality". DUP leader Gavin Robinson said Bryant's decision resulted from "republican agitation, mobilisation and the looming threats of potential violence" and called for an explanation of how the government would "restore confidence in the rule of law". Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson said emergency judicial proceedings were being prepared against the decision. Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister called it a "shameful surrender to mob rule".