Protesters Disperse After Blocking Controversial Orange Order Parade
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By Mark Simpson, community correspondent, Darran Marshall, BBC News NI, and Michael Fitzpatrick, BBC News NI
Published 27 September 2026
Updated Just now
Hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Portadown, County Armagh on Sunday, preventing a contentious Orange Order march from taking place.
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 following a series of late legal challenges.
Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill joined the protesters, while members of the Orange Order and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politicians gathered about a mile away, waiting for the road to clear.
Most of the protesters have since dispersed, but some members of the Orange Order remain.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said O'Neill was breaking the law by protesting. He claimed she had "broken her pledge of office".
"It is shameful that we see on the streets of Portadown, a first minister, a collection of ministers and series of elected representatives who are participating in an unlawful protest, who are blocking the road and who are giving two fingers to the police, the courts and the rule of law," Robinson added.
Sinn Féin has been contacted for comment.
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant, who returned from the Labour Party conference for talks, urged both sides to "double down on compromise" and said "nobody should be attending an unlawful protest", but he added it was not his job "to decide whether somebody has or hasn't broken the law".
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