CROWDS gathered outside the British Government's headquarters in Belfast, Erskine House, as the Garvaghy Road stand-off enters its third week. 

Protestors gathered to call on Secretary of State Chris Bryant to use his powers to ban the parade, as residents wait on a verdict from the Court of Appeal as to whether they will have leave to apply for judicial review. 

Protestors chanted "No Going Back" and "Seas an Fód," and held signs with messages of solidarity and support. 

Speaking at the protest, South Belfast MLA Deirdre Hargey said that "Belfast stands in solidarity with the Garvaghy Road".

She said that residents on the Garvaghy Road are "resolute" and "take support and comfort that the people right across this city, and indeed right across Ireland and globally are standing in solidarity with them".

Speaking about the Garvaghy Road residents, she said "that community has opened up their doors over the past two weeks, despite the continuing threat of sectarian intimidation and harassment that they thought had left their streets and homes twenty-eight years ago".

She said that protestors are bringing a message directly to the "the NIO, to the British Government, that there is no going back," and called on Chris Bryant to "ban this parade".

"The last parade on the Garvaghy Road was twenty-eight years ago," she said, "that is also when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. In that agreement it enshrined the right of residents and citizens here to live free from sectarian intimidation and harassment."

"The Orange Order, the DUP and the most regressive elements of loyalism have been trying to drag us back," said Ms Hargey. 

"I believe that the Garvaghy Road residents, just like any residents who want to live in peace, are on the right side of history. There is a clear difference. There is right and wrong.

"What the Orange Order are trying to do in terms of opening old wounds of the past is wrong. What the Garvaghy Road residents want is around building peace, around building for the future. That will show in the test of time, that they stand on the right side of history."

Ms Hargey said that the Garvaghy Road residents take "comfort, heart and strength" from "messages of solidarity" and that they would "continue to stand with them".

Speaking in Irish after the protest, Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh from Conradh na Gaeilge said it was important to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the Garvaghy Road community.

"There have been efforts made over the last fortnight to put the Orange Order down the road. We have been reminded of the devastation that was done to that community, the trauma, the people who were murdered.

"That community are saying with one voice that they do not want to go back. I think it's our duty to spread that message. That's why we're here today.

"These are the British Secretary of State's offices," he continued. "We understand that he has the legal power to overturn the Parades Commission's decision and put a stop to that. 

"We think the time has come for him to do that. That's the message we had today."