Protesters block Catholic area in Northern Ireland ahead of Orange Order march

Around 2,000 protesters block a route into the Catholic area in a Northern Irish town that a contentious Protestant parade is due to walk down this morning, a march that has historically been a flashpoint of sectarian disputes.

Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission on Friday permitted the Protestant Orange Order group to march along the Garvaghy Road, a Catholic enclave in the largely Protestant town of Portadown, overturning an almost 30-year ban on the route.

Crowds — including Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the party’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald — gather on the road overnight after Belfast’s High Court dismissed an application by residents to stop the parade early this morning.

“This is madness,” McDonald tells reporters shortly after 8 a.m. (10 a.m. Israel time), when the march was due to begin. “This, in fact, is primitive treatment of any community in the year 2026. It is intolerable, and it will not be tolerated.

“This is a dignified and united community, and they are absolutely determined that they and we will not be drawn back into the past.”

Nationalist residents have linked arms to block the Garvaghy road in Portadown. An Orange Order parade with only 35 participants has been given the go ahead following a late night ruling by the High Court in Belfast. The parade is due to begin at 8am. #UTV pic.twitter.com/NYLsmZwVlG

— Sara O’Kane (@sara_utv) September 27, 2026

McDonald and O’Neill call on the British government and police to intervene to put a stop to the parade. O’Neill says she spoke to Britain’s minister for the region and the Irish government.

Police vans parked nearby had earlier played out a warning that anyone taking part in the protest was committing a criminal offense.

A small group of Orange Order members wearing traditional silk orange sashes and black bowler hats gathered at another part of the town, a picture posted on X by Democratic Unionist Party lawmaker Carla Lockhart shows.

The Parades Commission’s determination on Friday stipulated that a smaller-than-usual 35 people could take part in the march, that it should begin by 8 a.m. and finish by 9:30 a.m., and that no supporters or bands would be allowed.