Garvaghy siege set to escalate
The Orange Order is set to up the ante in its siege of nationalists
in the Garvaghy Road area of Portadown. Not only are they still
refusing to talk to nationalist residents but the number of parades
they are planning is to escalate in the run up to July.
The month of May will see Orange marches effectively seal off section
by section of the nationalist enclave, putting those living in the
area under a blanket siege. In addition to this, there will be the
now routine march from the Church at Drumcree to the RUC lines on
Drumcree Road.
The Orange Order intend to increase the number of marches around the
area as the main Drumcree parade on 4 July approaches. Some sources
are now indicating that they are going to draw up a march-a-day
strategy to begin next month.
If the plan is agreed by the Orange Order, it will include
invitations to both lodges and districts throughout the Six Counties
to participate in the protests.
Breandan MacCionnaith, Garvaghy Road residents' spokesman, said: ``We
have endured these conditions for the past nine months and it doesn't
look like stopping now. If any other community in Britain or Ireland
was put under this kind of pressure, there would be an outcry.
``It is clear to nationalists that the increasing Orange marches in
the run up to Drumcree are designed to bring unbearable pressure upon
the local residents in order to break the community before the
Drumcree parade. The only way to resolve our community problems is to
sit down and talk - but the Orange Order do not even respect us
enough to allow us to choose our own representative.''
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