Police block Orange Order from controversial parade route
Police in Northern Ireland blocked members of the Orange Order from marching down the controversial Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The move followed a standoff between loyalist marchers and nationalist protesters, with political leaders calling for calm and compromise.
Why it matters
The Drumcree parade route remains a significant flashpoint for sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland, reflecting historical and ongoing political divisions.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Orangemen tried a number of times throughout Sunday and overnight to walk down Garvaghy Road
The police prevented the Orange Order from making a controversial parade down a road which had previously been blocked by protesters.
A group of men tried to march from Drumcree Church down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown in the early hours of Monday but a line of police Land Rovers stood in the way.
They had been unable to make the permitted parade on Sunday morning because protesters had gathered on the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road. The stand-off continued throughout Sunday, with the Orangemen waiting at the church, around a mile from the road, for the go-ahead from police.
Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O'Neill joined the protest, prompting Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson to accuse her of acting unlawfully.
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