Garvaghy stands firm
The besieged, threatened and frightened nationalist people of the
Garvaghy Road in Portadown are this week standing firm against
Orange intimidation. They are sealed behind barbed wire and
surrounded by loyalists who at times have blocked every exit from
their area. They are standing up for their right to be free from
sectarian harassment and to be treated as equals in their own
country and they are doing it under intense, sectarian pressure
from the Orange Order. They deserve the support of every
democrat.
The repeated claims by Orange Order and Unionist spokespersons
that they advocate non-violent opposition to the re-routing of
sectarian marches rings hollow in the face of the attacks on
nationalist homes and proprety, the petrol and blast-bombings,
the shootings, burnings and rioting across the North in recent
days. A reign of Orange terror has been unleashed for which
Orange Order leaders and their political allies within unionism
cannot escape responsibility. As usual, isolated nationalist
communities are bearing the brunt.
This is a defining period in the relationship between Unionism
and the British state. Democracy, justice and the terms of the
Good Friday Agreement dictate that the British government must
pursue the path of equality. But nationalists can hardly be
blamed for being suspicious that it will lose its nerve in the
face of loyalist aggression. Repeatedly over the years the
British have capitulated and opted to trample on the rights of
nationalists rather than lance the Orange boil.
Trading off the rights of a nationalist community in Belfast's
Ormeau Road against the rights of nationalists in Portadown will
not suffice. It is a cop-out which merely delays the time when
unionists come to terms with the need to respect the rights of
their nationalist neighbours. There can be no backward steps on
the road to justice.
Nationalists must remain vigiliant in the days ahead and all
democrats must stand up against the threats and violence of an
ideology whose day has passed.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)