Drumcree: Stalemate continues as protesters remain overnight
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Drumcree parade dispute: Protesters remain on Garvaghy Road
Protesters remained on the Garvaghy Road overnight as the Drumcree parade dispute continues. The main parties involved in the dispute in Northern Ireland are still in a stalemate, following a day of political talks and heated exchanges at Stormont.
Talks to resolve the issue took place on Monday as members of the Orange Order waited to begin their permitted parade, which was due to take place on Sunday morning, and walk down the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Orangemen also maintained a presence at Drumcree church overnight on Monday, but were smaller in number than previous nights. They spoke to officers at the police line near the church in an attempt to march down the Garvaghy Road. However, there did not appear to be any serious expectation that would happen.
Christopher Nelson, who was 11 when his mother, the solicitor Rosemary Nelson, was murdered by loyalists in 1999, said the current situation had brought back memories of that time. Rosemary Nelson represented several high-profile clients including prominent republican Colin Duffy and the Garvaghy Road Residents Association.
"With that came the worry about what was going to happen her when she was out there. Is mum coming home and if she is she going to be okay?"
He added:
"She tried her best to make you feel safe even though there was uncertainty in the back of your head."
Now a father-of-two himself, and married to Sinn Féin councillor Catherine Nelson, he said he did not want any child "worrying or concerned" and said it was like it was "happening all over again".
"This comes from a child who went through it, who experienced it, whose life it impacted. Do whatever needs to be done to protect them."
He expressed his concern about the current situation, stating:
"I know how badly it escalated and what the repercussions were in many cases."
The Drumcree parade, which in the 1990s sparked some of the most serious disorder in Northern Ireland's history, was due to go ahead for the first time in 30 years after a series of legal challenges. Since 1998, the Orange Order had been banned from completing its Drumcree march - and until this year had been repeatedly refused permission to finish the route by the Parades Commission, which was set up to adjudicate disputes.