Relieved residents of the besieged Garvaghy Road were jubilant on Friday night when word came through that the British Secretary of State had banned the Orange Order from marching through the nationalist area. 

That joy was replicated across Irish America where community leaders were fearful of peace progress being undermined by the Parade Commission decision to allow the controversial parade — 28 years after it had last been forced down the Garvaghy Road by the now-disbanded RUC.

That concern was echoed by Irish politicians on Capitol Hill in a bipartisan letter from members of Congress to the British Government urging permission for the parade be rescinded. Leading that effort were Richie Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts and James Gallagher, Republican of California. 

And it was in California — at San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge — that the Irish of America first rallied to support the embattled Garvaghy Road community. That demonstration of support was replicated in Philadelphia on Saturday where supporters pressed ahead with a gathering in support of the Garvaghy community even though they were aware that the parade had been banned. 

Support for the Garvaghy residents, who had maintained a two-week peaceful vigil at the Garvaghy Road in anticipation of an attempt to force Orange Order marchers down the road, also came from 50 stars of stage, screen and the arts including New York Oscar-winning director Terry George.