British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Sunday urged calm in Northern Ireland after the High Court in Belfast approved a contentious parade during a late-night hearing.
Thousands of protesters, many wearing balaclavas, gathered to prevent members of the Orange Order from marching along a street in the town of Portadown. The group strongly supports Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom, while many residents in the area favor unification with the Republic of Ireland.
The decision marks the first time in nearly 30 years that an Orange Order parade has been permitted to proceed along Garvaghy Road, which was a notorious flashpoint between the two communities in the years before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement largely brought an end to the violence in Northern Ireland.
During the so-called Troubles, around 3,600 people were killed and about 50,000 injured.
The end of the Troubles required balancing competing identities in Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom when the rest of Ireland gained independence a century ago. Irish nationalists in the north, most of them Catholic, seek union with the Republic of Ireland, while predominantly Protestant unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK.
Burnham called for “calm on all sides” over the parade, saying significant progress had been made in Northern Ireland and that “we don't want to see things go backwards.”
Jon Boutcher, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, urged “those with influence to encourage people to comply with the law,” referring to the large protest blocking Garvaghy Road. He said there had been no signs of violence or disorder.
“Police are engaging and working with all parties and will continue to do so. It is incumbent on us all to come together at times like this to do all we can to preserve a peaceful Northern Ireland,” he said.
Politicians representing the two sides expressed opposing views on whether the march should proceed.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who represents Sinn Fein, a party historically linked to the Irish Republican Army, said the decision to allow the march “brings into question how this whole peace process works.”
“The progress of the last 28 years have been brought into question by the actions of the Orange Order and those within political unionism that want to drag us backwards,” she said while attending the counterprotest on Garvaghy Road.
Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest pro-UK party in Northern Ireland, accused Sinn Fein leaders of inflaming the situation.
“The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Fein likes the outcome,” he said. “Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law.”
The march received final approval following a court hearing that ended at 2:15 a.m. Sunday.
The Orange Order takes its name from William of Orange, a Protestant prince of Holland who defeated Catholic King James and took the British throne in the 17th century.