Sunday/Monday, 4/5 July, 1999
Friday/Saturday 2/3 July, 1999 Tuesday, 29 June, 1999 Sunday/Monday, 27/28 June, 1999 Monday, 28 June, 1999 Thursday/Friday, 24/25 June, 1999 Thursday, 24 June, 1999 Wednesday, 23 June, 1999Garvaghy Siege Goes On - Now 53 Weeks
Residents of the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown remain under tremendous strain following the annual parade by the Protestant Orange Order to Drumcree church amid reports that the Orangemen may yet be violently forced through their community.
Efforts by thousands of loyalists to break through massive security into the enclave on Sunday were unsuccessful, and only a small number remained overnight at Drumcree to continue the siege on Portadown's Catholics, now in its 53rd week.
Thirteen hundred Orangemen paraded through Portadown as the County Armagh Lodge marked the first anniversary of last year's re-routed parade.
As the marchers reached the end of the Garvaghy Road, dozens of residents gathered behind security cordons to watch them pass. Several of the Orangemen made inflammatory remarks, mostly about recently murdered human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson. "Where's Rosemary?, Where's Rosemary" one shouted as he walked past.
At Drumcree, the marchers examined the new fortifications erected between them and the Garvaghy Road. At dawn British Army helicopters had dumped extra water into the moat dug between the two sides. Fresh razor wire was laid out to replace several rolls pulled down by loyalists on Saturday night.
During the annual march, one US-based independent human rights observer was injured by angry loyalists. The 48-year-old woman suffered a broken wrist and a head injury in the attack, near St John the Baptist church at the top of the Garvaghy Road.
One of her attackers came from the body of the Orange Order parade which passed St John's during Saturday evening's Mass and attacked her with a flagpole she was carrying.
She told a press conference yesterday: "I am lucky to be alive. I owe a lot to a woman who bravely pulled me away from people who were beating me.
She said: "They started pulling me into the parade and a man came out of the parade. When they had they were just beating me around my stomach and my back. I was running and there were no RUC men - there was nobody. I finally ran into the RUC, hysterical with them still chasing."
A spokesman for Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition described the violence as "sheer, naked sectarianism".
"How can David Jones or any other members of the Orange Order justify this behaviour? Actions such as these will make any resolution to the problems in Portadown even harder. Certainly the Parades Commission would find great difficulty in ever rescinding its decision of this disgraceful and disgusting behaviour."
The victim is just one of 100 international observers from America, Britain and Ireland.
Groups observing the march include Amnesty International, The Irish Parades Emergency Committee, Peacewatch Ireland and the Dublin-based Table Campaign.
In another incident before the march, a nationalist youth was beaten by RUC members before being dropped in a loyalist area of Portadown.
But the most worrying incident took place after the parades, when hundreds of rioting loyalists broke through onto the Dungannon Road in an attempt to attack nationalists near St John's Catholic Church.
Around midnight, loyalists firing missiles, fireworks and flares circumvented defences to invade the Catholic graveyard. Terrified Garvaghy residents were forced to vacate the area as the loyalists advanced.
In an emergency deployment, four British Army helicopters intercepted the loyalists, deploying soldiers before the loyalists retreated under plastic bullet fire.
Elsewhere, loyalists were seen blocking roads surrounding Ballymena, County Antrim in a move linked to the Drumcree protests.
Despite the violence, Orangemen insisted their supporters were to be commended for their restraint.
Addressing a rally at Drumcree chruch, the Portadown District Master, Mr Harold Gracey again stated the Orange Order's determination to walk down Garvaghy Road. He said he considered he was "entitled to walk any road without asking anybody for permission", and added: "We will be staying here, make no mistake about that. We will be staying here until such times when we will be allowed our civil right to walk a public road."
Orangemen expressed confidence that the parade would be forced down the Garvaghy Road in a matter of days thanks to a "secret" deal with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
But residents spokesperson Breandan Mac Cionnaith insisted that the only way Orangemen would be allowed down Garvaghy Road would be with the consent of local nationalists.
He said it would be a serious mistake for Mr Blair to force a march down the road against residents' wishes.
"What has Tony Blair got to gain of forcing a march down the Garvaghy Road?
Most of the people on Drumcree Hill are anti-agreement unionists.
"He has more to lose by forcing a march through this community if they don't want it. Any confidence that nationalists have in the Good Friday agreement will disappear like snow off the boots.
"If he wants to give out the message that violence works then that is what he should do. He can't afford to even think of that option, never mind carry it out."
Friday/Saturday, 2/3 July, 1999
Drumcree becomes War Zone
There has been a major British military deployment at Drumcree Church, where thousands of Orangemen and their supporters are expected to mass tomorrow to try to reverse a decision preventing their parade down the nationalist Garvaghy Road.
The arrival of the helicopters, the tanks, the armoured personnel carriers -- and for the first time, Belgians water-cannons—has terrified the Garvaghy residents. Once again they await the full intensity of Orange hate, surrounded by loyalists and protected only by the British government's policy of the day.
Hundreds of troops and RUC police were involved in the operation, by far the biggest ever invasion by British forces in the run-up to the Drumcree crisis. Nearly 2,000 extra troops have been drafted into the north of Ireland to cope with the height of marching season.
Military convoys swept into the area before dawn, and throughout the day the build-up continued. They quickly sealed off the Garvaghy Road with barriers, imprisoning the residents behind security lines.
They widened and sandbagged part of a river to flood ground where protests have taken place before. They put metal barriers and razor wire to block Drumcree Bridge and dug a moat around it. Fields were ploughed, deep trenches dug and miles of razor wire strung out across the fields. A 20ft high metal-clad fence has been erected at one flashpoint area on the Corcrain Road.
Last year, loyalists used fireworks, petrol bombs, automatic gunfire and blast bombs and other missiles to try to force their way into the Garvaghy estate, killing one RUC man. Tension in the area was not helped yesterday when RUC Chief Ronnie Flanagan warned that his intelligence indicated that loyalist dissidents were planning on even more intense violence this year.
Residents have requested that this year, road-blocks around Drumcree are set up to prevent loyalists travelling to the area with missiles and weapons. The ease with which loyalists laid siege to the area has been a running sore to residents since last July.
As loyalist numbers at Drumcree grow, residents are being increasingly forced to remain within their small isolated enclave and are desperately stocking up on medicines and supplies.
Meanwhile, Garvaghy residents spokesman Breandan Mac Cionnaith has warned against any secret deals between the Orange Order and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The move came as rumours grew that Mr Blair was trying to persuade the Orange Order to contain he violence at Drumcree this weekend in return for being allowed to walk later in the year.
Mr Mac Cionnaith said any proposals for future marches would be considered but the final decision would be taken by nationalist residents.
He said: "I think the prime minister and the Orangemen know that there will be no solution to this at the exclusion of nationalists on the Garvaghy Road. Whatever proposals are concocted they will be taken back to the community here and the decision will be made by them."
Mr Mac Cionnaith expressed concerns at the residents' exclusion from the meetings. He said there were still fears in the nationalist area of a deal between the Government and Orangemen which would force the parade down the street. He pointed to a memo produced by First Minister David Trimble's chief of staff which signalled a threat from the Orangemen to protest nightly for the next two years unless they are permitted to march.
He said: "We have been left out of the loop over the past few days. We have not been informed about what's happening in these meetings between the prime minister and the Orange Order.
"The prime minister should publicly express his commitment to upholding the Parades Commission's decision."
DISTURBANCES
In particular, as they passed the Nelson offices, the marchers began playing "The Sash" louder and louder rather than being silent. The marchers beating their drums louder and louder before dancing around and waving their fingers at the nationalists.
After some tense moments, the nationalist protestors resumed their peaceful sit-down protest.
Action alert: Support the Garvaghy Road residents
The Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition has called for a mass mobilisation in the besieged area on Sunday, 4 July, the day the Orange Order will attempt to march through the beleagured area. The Coalition is urging nationalists across Ireland and abroad to show support for the residents of the Garvaghy Road and the wider area. The rally is being organised to „highlight the right of the people to live free from sectarian harassment“. It is highly recommended that people wishing to participate in the rally travel to Portadown on 3 July.
“Garvaghy: A Community Under Siege“
„GARVAGHY: A COMMUNITY UNDER SIEGE“ written by the Residents is being launched on Saturday 3rd July at the Ashgrove Community Center. Garvaghy Road.
If your group is interested, we can provide copies, minimum order 12 copies with a 1/3 discount. (e.g. 12 x £8.99 = £107.88 less £ 35.92 discount Total due £71.96).
Order as soon as possible as interest is high and pre orders have passed our expectations.
ADVANCE INFORMATION - Title: GARVAGHY: A COMMUNITY UNDER SIEGE
Author: Garvaghy Residents
Description: Since 1795, the Orange Order has been gathering at Drumcree Church and marching through Catholic areas of Portadown - „the most bitter town in Ireland“. Over the last thirty years Obins Street, and the Garvaghy Road, have become world famous as the residents struggle against the sectarianism of the annual Orange invasions.
Every year since 1995, the residents have spent weeks hemmed in by Orange mobs and ringed by units of the British Army. Their sit-down protests have been brutally cleared by the RUC; their public representatives have been attacked, threatened and demonised; and finally, their lawyer, Rosemary Nelson, was murdered by a car bomb.
What is it like to live in the Garvaghy area, not knowing where the violence will come from next, or when it will strike? What do you do when soldiers prevent you from walking to church? How do you deal with colleagues at work who refuse to talk to you? Or what do you say to sick and frightened children, when you can‘t afford to send them out of the area?
In this book people of the Garvaghy area provide extracts from their diaries and open their photo albums. They tell stories of fear and anxiety, of hope and loss, and of courage and community organisation. They reveal the real price of „Orange feet on the Garvaghy Road.“
Format: c.120pp. 138x215mm plus 32 pages of original b&w photos I.S.B.N 1-900960-06-0
If you are interested in providing a link to details of the book, please use this link on your web site: http://www.btpale.ie/ntitles.htm
Tabhair aire
Is mise le meas
Angie McFall. Beyond The Pale Publications Ltd 2.1.2 Conway Mill 5-7 Conway Street BELFAST BT13 2DE Tel: 01232 438630 Fac: 01232 439707 E-Mail: info@btpale.ieSunday/Monday, 27/28 June, 1999
Garvaghy March Banned
A decision to ban this year‘s Drumcree parade was announced this afternoon by the Parades Commission. It ruled against the route through the nationalist Garvaghy Road on Sunday—but said the parade could take place at a later date if the progress made between Protestant marchers and nationalist residents elsewhere in the North of Ireland was achieved in Portadown.
Efforts to reach agreement over the demand of the Protestant Orange Order to march through the isolated nationalist enclave had failed in Belfast just hours earlier.
Local residents—who dreaded a secret plan to try to force the parade down the road with armoured vehicles, baton-charges and beatings as it was in 1996 -- welcomed the decision. There was little surprise at the move following the Orangemen‘s refusal to hold real talks with Garvaghy Road representatives over the past year.
The Church of Ireland rector of Drumcree Church, John Pickering, has meanwhile confirmed that he will again allow Orangemen to lay siege to the Garvaghy Road from his church and grounds. He has therefore rejected a request by the Church of Ireland to insist the Orangemen accept the ruling of the Parades Commission.
Orangemen are now set to gather en masse on Drumcree Hill on July 4 in a repeat of last year‘s violent protest. Their ultimately unsuccessful attempt to force a march past a massive military deployment of British soldiers and RUC police resulted in a year‘s siege on the Garvaghy Road.
Fears of increased violence were heightened today when the press conference to announce the Commission‘s decision was interrupted by a bomb warning siren. This followed a statement by dissident loyalist death-squad known as the Orange Volunteers saying it was „putting its active service units on standby“ from midnight. They said any attempt „to suppress the Protestant religion“ would receive „a swift and violence reaction“ from both the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders, a related paramilitary group.
Emerging from Stormont House, where talks aimed at averting a major confrontatation over Drumcree had been taking place, Garvaghy residents‘ group spokesman Brendan MacCionnaith revealed the talks had failed.
The independent Craigavon councillor said all possibilities had been exhausted, with the Portadown Orangemen still refusing to speak directly with the nationalist residents. Mr McCionnaith expressed frustration at what he aw as another futile exercise—the latest in a long history of failed „proximity“ talks.
„There was nothing on the table whatsoever, no proposals whatsoever were discussed,“ he said of the latest talks.
He said he put to the [British] Prime Minister the residents‘ views about what has been happening on the Garvagy Road over the past 12 months: „the whole litany of murder, of threats, of intimidation, the threats of violence that have been made against the community—and we put the question to the Prime Minister that if some community in England was suffering the same, would he have allowed it to happen?“
He said he had not allowed the Drumcree issue be used as a bargaining chip in the overall peace process, and criticised the failure of local MPO and UUP leader David Trimble to seek a solution.
Mr MacCionnaith said: „Mr Trimble‘s contribution to the talks had been on the basis that he was an Orangeman and that his proposals for resolving the Drumcree dispute were no different to the ones he had made before in previous years.“
Drumcree Parade banned
As expected the Parades Commission has banned the return leg of the
controversial Drumcree Orange parade this coming Sunday. The decision was
announced within the last few minutes at a crowded press conference in
Belfast. However the press conference has just been abandoned due to a
bomb alert.The press conference is due to be continued in the Hotel car
park.Meanwhile the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders have issued
a joint statement today threatening random sectarian attacks across the
North from midnight tonight in the event of the parade being banned.
Pat Finucane Centre
Thursday/Friday, 24/25 June, 1999
Loyalist marchers amused by atrocity
Unionist marchers laughed and smirked as they passed the Rising Sun bar in Greysteel on Thursday, the scene of one of the worst atrocities of the Anglo-Irish conflict.
As the march passed through the County Derry village on Thursday, residents turned their backs as the marchers passed the bar where seven people were murdered by loyalist gunmen in 1993 in what became known as the ‚Trick or Treat‘ massacre.
A 117-mile loyalist sectarian march across the north of Ireland is being described by its organisers as a „Protestant civil rights march“—but is being seen as another tactic to force a highly contentious march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown on July 4.
Angry at the march through their village, Greysteel residents decided on a spontaneous protest. Around 30 formed a line in front of the bar and simply turned their backs on the marchers.
Although the front row of marchers bowed their heads as they passed the scene, stragglers at the back, many wearing shirts bearing loyalist prisoner of war logos, sniggered and laughed.
After the brief protest, a relative of one of the men killed in the Greysteel massacre branded the march „disgusting“.
Rosemary Moore, whose father-in-law James was the oldest of the 1993 murder victims and the original owner of the Rising Sun bar, took part in yesterday‘s protest.
Afterwards, she said she was „totally disgusted“ by the march. „It was a disgrace, as simple as that—a waste of taxpayers‘ money and a waste of police effort,“ Mrs Moore said.
One Greysteel resident said: „This march is the last thing we need. We had hoped all the bigotry was in the past. This march has nothing to do with civil rights and everything to do with Drumcree.“ Another resident said: „We are trying to move into the 21st century and they want to go back to 1690.“
From early morning, a huge military presence of soldiers and police was evident in the city. A helicopter hovered over Derry for most of the previous night as barriers were placed along the route of the march.
A huge ‚March of Shame‘ banner was erected across Derry‘s Shipquay Street, a short distance from the start of the march, and local people carrying the names of those murdered as a result of the siege on the Garvaghy Road started to line the road.
Donncha Mac Niallais of the Bogside Residents Group said the large turn-out showed the disgust of the people of Derry at the march. A spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition congratulated Derry nationalists on their stand.
Sinn Fein Councillor Cathal Crumley praised Derry nationalists for the discipline and restraint shown as the loyalist march to Drumcree left Derry this morning.
Councillor Crumley said:
„Those responsible for organising and participating in this sectarian force represent the most negative aspects of unionism and loyalism. It is no coincidence that the individuals most vociferous in their support of this march are also most opposed to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
„One of the basic principles of the Agreement was the right to live free from sectarian harassment but it is clear that the intent of this march is to raise tensions and increase pressure on the residents of the Garvaghy Road in the days immediately preceding Drumcree Sunday.“
Last night around 1,000 people attended a rally in Limavady in support of the „Long March“ The third stage of the march leaves Coleraine, County Derry on Saturday, to meet up with loyalists at the Garvaghy Road on July 4th.
? Irish-Americans are protesting the appropriation of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by the anti-Catholic Orange Order in Ireland in its promotion of the march
Members of the U.S. Congress have been asked to „express their outrage“ over the use of the words and works of Dr King in press releases and on its web sites.
"March of Shame" begins in Derry
The DUP inspired „Long March“ passed without incident as it began in Derry around 10am this morning. The marchers stated that their purpose was to highlight „the denial of Protestant civil rights“ and the plight of the „real victims,“ those they describe as the victims of republican violence. The group of around 100, including Gregory Campbell of the DUP, proceeded from Guildhall Square and up Shipquay Street to the Diamond, following behind a banner which read, „For the real victims of Northern Ireland.“
In response, the Bogside Residents Group (BRG) coordinated a „disciplined protest.“ Around 2-300 local people lined the route on Shipquay Street armed with posters which highlighted those who have lost their lives as a result of the Drumcree stand-off. These included names such as the Quinn brothers, Robert Hamill, Frankie O‘Reilly, Dermott McShane, and Rosemary Nelson. Other posters branded the walk the „March of Shame“ and the „March of Hate.“
The nationalists lining the route responded to the marchers with complete silence. Not a sound was heard from the crowd as the parade passed along Shipquay Street.
Not only was the reaction a surprise to the large press corps, some of whom had come from outside of Ireland and Britain, but a disappointment to the RUC, who had organised a large scale security operation in anticipation of a possible controversial or violent reaction.
Later in the day, the marchers walked through the village of Greysteel and past the Rising Sun Bar where seven people were killed by loyalists in 1993. As a sign of their disapproval, local Greysteel residents lined the route and stood with their backs turned to the marchers. Earlier in the week, the march‘s organisers denied a request from the PFC to drive through the town.
Loyalists 'Coat-Trailing' Through Greysteel
The so-called ‚Protestant civil rights march‘ from Derry to Portadown scheduled to leave Derry‘s Guildhall Square in the morning is being described by nationalists as „nothing more than a sectarian coat-trailing exercise“.
Loyalist marchers are due to pass through the County Derry village of Greysteel, within yards of the infamous Loyalist „trick or treat“ massacre in the Rising Sun bar which left 8 people dead and 13 injured in 1993. Organisers‘ disregard for local sentiment has led to accusations of sectarianism.
Sinn Fein‘s assembly member of Foyle, Mitcehl McLaughlin described the march through as „grossly insensitive and offensive“. He called on the marchers to voluntarily board buses and pass through Greysteel. Residents of the nationalist Bogside in Derry are to stage a silent peaceful protest on a city centre street as the march sets off to highlight nationalist opposition to the march.
The march, dubbed the „Long March“, will also pass through several flashpoints on its 117-mile route, including Ballymoney, scene of the brutal killing of the Quinn brothers at the height of the Drumcree stand-off last year and Lurgan, where community tension is high following the killing of Rosemary Nelson.
Already nationalists living in predominantly unionist towns like Limavady and Coleraine are expressing their fears the march will provoke sectarian trouble.
The march has been likened by the organisers to Martin Luther King‘s march in Washington in 1963 when 200,000 people demanded civil rights for Black Americans, but this march is another attempt by unionists to assert their supremacy over nationalists and inflame the situation in the run up to Drumcree.
The Pat Finucane Centre has called upon the march organisers to go through Greysteel by bus but has stressed that „the marchers are not being asked to reroute the parade but rather drive through Greysteel as both a mark of respect for the victims of the loyalist atrocity and to ease community tension“.
However, with organisers‘ spokesperson Jonathan Bell stating on 16 June that „no one should be offended if the march passes through nationalist areas“, it seems unlikely that the marchers will heed the plea from the Pat Finucane Centre. Feeder marches are also scheduled to pass through the nationalist villages of Bellaghy and Dunloy. The march, which the organisers claim is intended to highlight Protestant grievances on issues such as the Good Friday Agreement and the Peace Process has been widely condemned, with both residents‘ groups and the Presbyterian Church calling for it to be abandoned.
Meanwhile, Church of Ireland bishop Harold Miller, who called for the march to be abandoned, has been criticised by march organisers and told to „stand up for people who have been ethnically cleansed“. Jonathan Bell accused Harold Miller of being „out of step“ and rejected the claim that the march will result in violent clashes.
The public row comes at a time when Bell announced plans for „phase two“ of the Protestant Civil Rights campaign. A second march is to run from 19 to 29 September, with a third series of marches planned after the millennium. Bell has claimed that the series of marches are designed to highlight the „human rights abuses that Protestant people had endured over the years“ and that the marches had been planned legally and were not designed to create trouble.