Senior loyalist Jamie Bryson has called for the use of “proportionate force” to allow Orangemen to walk down the Garvaghy Road.
Protestors remained in place overnight, all determined not to allow one Orangeman to march down the mostly nationalist street in Portadown, Country Armagh.
During the 1990s, the Orange Order’s desire to march from Drumcree church to the Garvaghy Road led to violent clashes, riots and even murders.
The Garvaghy Road in 1998. Picture by: Leon Farrell/RollingNews.ie.In 1998, the newly established Parades Commission banned the Orange Order from marching down the Garvaghy Road - but members never gave up hope of walking down their traditional route.
Last week, the commission signed off on a parade along the Garvaghy Road of 35 men at 8am on a Sunday morning.
The decision delighted Orangemen, but dismayed local residents and thousands of nationalists arrived in Portadown to block the route.
Among them were First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams.
First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald on the Garvaghy Road. Picture by: Alamy.com.Jamie Bryson, who serves as an advisor to Portadown District Orange Lodge, insisted that the law must be followed and the parade allowed to march along the Garvaghy Road.
“If the PSNI have to use proportionate force to give effect to their positive obligations under the law, then so be it,” he said.
“So, if people want to gather on the road then the police should put them off the road.
“And if Assistant Chief Constable Henderson had done his job yesterday, we wouldn’t be here today.
“It’s because of the failure of gold command in the PSNI yesterday that we’re all here today, including the police officers, by the way, who have had to work overtime.”
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Mr Bryson added that by not allowing the parade to march along the Garvaghy Road, the police had “caved into the mob”.
“We went to the court, the court determined this issue, the law has spoken and this is a binary issue,” he argued.
“We have the law on the one side, we have the mob and who wins? That’s the question for society today.
“So, the PSNI have to decide, does the law win or does the mob win?”
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After the parade was blocked, Michelle O’Neill said it had been a “victory” for the local community and their right “to live free from sectarian harassment and intimidation”.
In response, DUP leader Gavin Robinson accused her of breaking the law and "her pledge of office”.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant has said that there are a "few ideas around", but conceded that "we haven't got a solution yet".
Main image: Jamie Bryson in Portadown. Picture by: Steven McAuley/Alamy Live News.
