Policing an Orange march down the Garvaghy Road seems “all but impossible”, a journalist on the ground has said. 

It is now three days since the 35 Orangemen were blocked from walking down the Portadown street by thousands of nationalists. 

In the 1990s, Orange parades down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road led to rioting, civil disobedience and even killings. 

The Garvaghy Road. Picture by: Steven McAuley/Alamy Live News.

The Parades Commission banned the Order from marching down the road in 1998, but reversed that decision earlier this month - to the horror of local residents. 

The Orange Order remains hopeful that it will be able to march down the street; however, hundreds of nationalists remain in place on the Garvaghy Road, blocking the route. 

“So far, the Secretary of State hasn't called time on this,” Allison Morris of the Belfast Telegraph explained on Newstalk Breakfast. 

“He is the only person that has the power to reverse that parade's commission determination, albeit he requires the advice of the Chief Constable to do that.

“So, from the Orange Order's point of view, you can say that's positive; it means that their parade is still live, it means they could still technically, legally complete that march and parade along the Garvaghy Road.

“But realistically, there seems less and less chance of any way of policing that situation.”

The Garvaghy Road. Picture by: Steven McAuley/Alamy Live News.

Given the large numbers of people who remain on the Garvaghy Road, ready to block the parade at a moment’s notice, Ms Morris added that policing it would be “all but impossible”. 

However, the Orange Order has not yet given up hope that, after 28 years, they will still be able to march down the Garvaghy Road.

“From their point of view, they will be hoping that the Chief Constable changes his mind and maybe sends in the police to try and push that parade through,” Ms Morris said. 

“But I can't see how that can be safely done in any way, shape or form at this stage.”

The Garvaghy Road. Picture by: Steven McAuley/Alamy Live News.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant has said that finding a resolution to the dispute was "not going to be easy" but promised officials would "go the extra mile for peace".

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has described the decision to grant the Orange Order permission to march as “incomprehensible and wrong". 

While Sinn Féin has called on the Irish Government to “urgently press the British Prime Minister to stop this march”. 

There were angry scenes in Stormont on Monday, with unionists furious at the participation of Sinn Féin Ministers in the protest. 

The DUP accused First Minister Michelle O’Neill of breaking the law and ‘flagrantly disregarding the pledge of office’. 

“I will say one thing, because all of this sounds very depressing. It is optimistic to me,” Ms Morris said. 

“It seems positive to me that this is being played out in the courts, that this is being played out in the politics of it, in meetings with the Secretary of State, on the Assembly floor and not on the streets. 

“I covered these parading disputes for years and in the past, by now, we would have seen widespread disorder and trouble all across Northern Ireland - and that hasn't happened.”