Tensions run high in Northern Ireland after contentious march given go-ahead

Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for calm in Northern Ireland on Sunday after a contentious parade was given the go-ahead by the High Court in Belfast in a late-night sitting.

Thousands of protesters, many wearing balaclavas, gathered to block the marchers from the Orange Order, a group hugely supportive of Northern Ireland being part of the UK, from proceeding down a street in the town of Portadown where many favor unification with the Republic of Ireland.

Fireworks were set off nearby about five minutes before its 8 a.m. start time, and protesters were notified on a loudspeaker that they will be liable for arrest for taking part in an unlicensed counter parade.

Burnham appealed for “calm on all sides” over the parade, saying there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland, and we don’t want to see things go backwards.”

Sunday’s march marks the first time in almost 30 years that an Orange Order parade has been allowed to go down Garvaghy Road.

The road was a notorious flashpoint before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 largely ended bloodshed that left 3,600 people dead, some 50,000 wounded and thousands bereaved. In the years before the agreement, there were violent clashes on Garvaghy Road over several summers and requiring major security operations.

Ending the Troubles meant balancing competing identities in Northern Ireland, which remained in the United Kingdom when the rest of Ireland won independence a century ago. Irish nationalists in the north — most of them Catholic — seek union with the Republic of Ireland, while largely Protestant unionists want to stay part of the UK.

Mary Lou McDonald, the president of Sinn Fein, the party historically linked to the Irish Republican Army, said the people of Garvaghy Road would “not be drawn back to the past.”

“This is madness,” she said. “This, in fact, is primitive treatment of any community in the year 2026. It is intolerable, and it will not be tolerated.”

Gavin Robinson, the leader of the Democrat Unionist Party, the largest pro-U.K. party in Northern Ireland, called out Sinn Fein leaders for inflaming the situation.

“The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Fein likes the outcome,” he said. “Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law.”

The march was given the final go-ahead at a court hearing which concluded at 2.15 a.m. Sunday.

卡塔尔·麦克诺顿/路透社

周日，英国首相安迪·伯纳姆呼吁北爱尔兰保持冷静。此前，贝尔法斯特高等法院在深夜开庭后批准了一场备受争议的游行。

数千名抗议者，其中许多人戴着巴拉克拉瓦帽，聚集在一起阻止奥兰治教团的游行队伍沿着波塔当镇的一条街道行进。奥兰治教团是一个强烈支持北爱尔兰成为英国一部分的团体，而波塔当镇的许多人则赞成与爱尔兰共和国统一。

上午 8 点开始前约 5 分钟，附近燃放了烟花，并通过扩音器通知抗议者，参加未经许可的反游行活动将被逮捕。

伯纳姆呼吁各方在游行中保持“冷静”，并表示“北爱尔兰已经取得了巨大进步，我们不希望看到事情倒退”。

周日的游行标志着近 30 年来，橙带教团的游行队伍首次获准沿着加瓦吉路行进。

在1998年《贝尔法斯特协议》（又称《耶稣受难日协议》）签署之前，这条道路曾是臭名昭著的冲突爆发点。该协议基本结束了造成3600人死亡、约5万人受伤、数千人失去亲人的流血冲突。在协议签署前的几年里，加尔瓦吉路在几个夏季都发生过暴力冲突，需要采取大规模的安全行动。

结束北爱尔兰冲突意味着要平衡北爱尔兰内部相互冲突的身份认同。一个世纪前，爱尔兰其他地区赢得独立时，北爱尔兰仍留在英国。北爱尔兰的爱尔兰民族主义者——其中大多数是天主教徒——寻求与爱尔兰共和国合并，而主要由新教徒组成的联合主义者则希望继续留在英国。

与爱尔兰共和军有着历史渊源的新芬党主席玛丽·卢·麦克唐纳表示，加瓦吉路的人们“不会被拉回过去”。

“这简直是疯了，”她说。“事实上，在2026年，这种对待任何群体的方式都太原始了。这是不可容忍的，也绝不会被容忍。”

北爱尔兰最大的亲英政党——民主统一党的领导人加文·罗宾逊谴责新芬党领导人煽动局势。

他说：“法治不能只在辛芬党喜欢结果的时候才适用。我们的制度建立在尊重警察、法院和法治的基础之上。”

周日凌晨 2 点 15 分结束的法庭听证会最终批准了此次游行。