OVER 150 people from a Protestant background have penned a letter urging the Orange Order to end the Drumcree parade stand-off.
The letter signed by Protestant ministers, writers, commentators and others was published just hours before talks to find a solution to the impasse collapsed last night.
In an open letter to Secretary of State Chris Bryant and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee the signatories describe themselves as a group of “concerned individuals from a Protestant background”.
The letter is signed by people including Rev Karen Sethuraman, Bill Shaw, Linda Ervine and Linzi McLaren.
"We write as a group of concerned individuals from a Protestant background. We hold a wide range of views on politics, faith and identity, and no single label captures our diversity. But we are committed to our shared society, and we feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown," they say.
"We value the peace and progress built since the 1998 Agreement. We want our children and grandchildren to inherit a future free from the anguish of the past, and we are anxious that some now seem willing to reopen old wounds.
"While we recognise that the Portadown District LOL regard Drumcree as unfinished business, we are distressed by the trauma that is being visited on the residents of the Garvaghy Road after 28 years of calm. This is a community that has suffered deeply and still lives with the legacy of the parading disputes of the 1990s, which cost lives and left lasting scars.
"Many of us have family and friends for whom parading is a valued tradition, and some of us have been directly involved ourselves. We recognise its importance to many in our community. The vast majority of loyal order parades take place each year without restrictions – an outcome enabled by agreements and arrangements reached after exhaustive efforts. All of that is now being called into question, with potentially devastating consequences far beyond Portadown.
"We appeal to the Orange Order to look towards the bigger picture and bring this impasse to an end in the interests of our entire community.
"We urge the British and Irish Governments to act together and without delay: to restore stability, to ensure that the parading framework is robust and trusted, and to spare the residents of the Garvaghy Road a return to the fear they endured for so many summers."
The letter adds: "This is a time when all of us committed to a better future have a responsibility to raise our voices to protect peace, progress and a shared society free from sectarianism.
"We must avoid the abyss we are currently staring into. For the future of our children and grandchildren, we cannot go backwards."
Also yesterday, a bipartisan group of US Congress members called on the British Government to intervene and ban the Orange Order march along Garvaghy Road in a letter to the Secretary of State.
"As Members of the Friends of Ireland Caucus, we respectfully urge you and the Government of the United Kingdom to cancel the Orange Order parade on Garvaghy Road," they wrote.
"Without decisive action, we risk reopening one of the most painful chapters of Northern Ireland’s history and undermining nearly three decades of peace, stability, and reconciliation made possible by the Good Friday Agreement. Over the last three decades, the progress made on the island of Ireland has been nothing short of extraordinary.
"Twenty-eight years have passed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and a generation has grown without a single memory of the Troubles. Whether they realize it or not, their hopes and aspirations will forever be shaped by years of tireless diplomacy that have brought us to this moment. It was that same 28-year period that saw the end of the controversial Orange Order marches on Garvaghy Road in a majority-Catholic area of Portadown. During the Troubles, these parades became a symbol of the sectarian tensions, public disorder, and violence that once threatened Northern Ireland’s peace.
"The Parades Commission has prevented the proposed march down Garvaghy Road year after year, and for good reason. This march harkens back to decades of sectarian rule and the divisions that defined one of the darkest periods in Ireland’s history. For those who have dedicated their lives to achieving peace and stability, allowing this march to proceed would reopen wounds that have yet to fully heal. For the next generation, who want nothing more than peace, prosperity, and a shared future, this would represent a marked step backward.
"This is a consequential moment on the island of Ireland, which is why we respectfully urge you to put a stop to this march. Failing to intervene and allowing this contentious parade to move forward would risk undermining the progress that has been painstakingly built over the past three decades.
"As a guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the United States has a vested interest in seeing the principles embodied in the accord upheld, ensuring the gains we have achieved can be enjoyed for generations to come."
