McGuigan warns against reopening Drumcree dispute as he points to Ballymena’s Harryville protests

Inset: Sinn Féin North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan

Sinn Féin North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan has warned against attempts to revive contentious parading disputes, invoking the Harryville protests in Ballymena as he said Northern Ireland must not be dragged back towards heightened sectarian tensions.

Mr McGuigan was responding to renewed controversy surrounding an Orange Order application connected to the Garvaghy Road in Portadown, arguing that almost three decades without an Orange parade along the road represented progress that should be protected rather than a dispute requiring a new solution.

He also warned that the renewed Drumcree debate could have consequences beyond Portadown, claiming some commentary was already seeking to revive previously contentious parading issues in North Antrim, including Dunloy.

‘The issue is closed and must remain so’

Mr McGuigan said:

“The issue of unwanted Orange marches on the Garvaghy road is closed and must remain so.

“The people of the Garvaghy Road have lived in peace for 28 years, free from unwanted, triumphalist, sectarian marches being forced through their community.

“Clearly the Orange Order’s application is an attempt to reopen an issue that has long been settled and, by its own admission, to pave the way for repeated marches through a nationalist community that does not want them.”

The Drumcree dispute became one of Northern Ireland’s most contentious parading controversies during the 1990s, centred on the route taken by the Orange Order following its annual service at Drumcree Parish Church.

McGuigan points to Harryville

Bringing the issue directly back to North Antrim, Mr McGuigan cited the prolonged loyalist protests outside Our Lady’s Church at Harryville in Ballymena during the 1990s.

He said:

“Here in North Antrim, we know only too well the damage caused when contentious parades and sectarian tensions are deliberately inflamed.

“We witnessed a 20 months long campaign on parishioners attending Mass in Harryville in Ballymena who were subjected to a deeply sectarian and intimidating loyalist protest.

“The murders of the three young Quinn brothers in a loyalist attack on their Ballymoney home remain an enduring and devastating reminder of the human cost of sectarian hatred inflamed by sectarian parades.

“We must not allow anyone to drag our society back towards that darkness.”

The Quinn brothers — Richard, Mark and Jason — died when their Ballymoney home was petrol-bombed in July 1998, during a period of intense tensions surrounding the Drumcree stand-off.

Warning over North Antrim parades

Mr McGuigan said the implications of the latest controversy could extend beyond the Garvaghy Road.

“Twenty eight years of peace on the Garvaghy Road is not a problem requiring a solution. It is progress which must be defended,” he said.

“The Orange Order and unionist political leaders should respect the clearly expressed wishes of the Garvaghy Road community and allow people to continue living their lives in peace.”

The North Antrim MLA went on to accuse some within political unionism of using the issue amid internal political pressures — a political claim made by Mr McGuigan rather than an independently established fact.

He said:

“There are those within political unionism who, in an effort to distract from their own internal party difficulties and inter unionist fighting in the run up to an election, are seeking to inflame tensions beyond the Garvaghy Road.

“Already, some voices locally on social media are attempting to use the renewed Drumcree controversy to resurrect long-resolved parading disputes in North Antrim, including in Dunloy.”

Mr McGuigan said Sinn Féin would oppose attempts to revive such disputes.

“Let me be really clear, Sinn Féin stands fully with the residents of the Garvaghy Road, and we will firmly oppose any attempt to reopen resolved parading disputes or force unwanted marches through nationalist communities anywhere, including Dunloy.

“Responsible political leadership should be focused on protecting progress and maintaining peaceful community relations not exploiting parades to create division, heighten tensions or distract from internal political problems.”

The intervention brings the renewed Drumcree debate firmly into the North Antrim political arena, with Mr McGuigan signalling that Sinn Féin will resist any attempt to revisit previously contentious parade routes elsewhere in the constituency.