Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition

PEACE WATCH Update from Garvaghy Road, Portadown - July 3, 1999

The PeaceWatch Ireland delegation of 8 people arrived at Garvaghy Road July 1. Other representatives from PeaceWatch have been here in groups of two or more for about the last two weeks. Things are generally quiet now, but quite tense. There were some semi-road blocks and minor military presence in place by July 1.

By July 2, full security road checks were in place on each end of Garvaghy Road with a combination of British soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) checking the Ids of everyone entering and leaving. There are Saracens, Saxons, military helicopters, water canons, and other heavy military equipment in place all around, in addition to various configurations of barbed-wire and metal barricades at the various entrances to the community. Soldiers in armored trucks and on foot carry loaded rifles.

The ones in trucks sometimes point their rifles right at you when they pass, a practice they do not seem to engage in when driving by the Protestant community [note: the RUC is over 90 percent Protestant and a very significant number of them are members of the Orange Order].

As of last night, there were a total of about 19 international witnesses, mostly from PeaceWatch, the Lawyers Alliance, and IPEC (Irish Parades Emergency Committee) both based in the U.S. Today about 55 other International Observers arrive from groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. There are also high profile politicians and other dignitaries from the U.S., the Republic of Ireland (often identified by nationalists in the North as the Free State), England, and elsewhere, in addition to a few hundred people from the above places who assume a less neutral position as the International Witnesses and Observers, that is, who are here as a show of solidarity with the Garvaghy Road residents.

PeaceWatch and other international observers went on our first patrols last night to cover four potential hot spots as one of the many Orange Order [OO] parades went by. This one went by the perimeter of the Garvaghy Road community (since the community is now barricaded off).

The parade was about 20 minutes long -- one observer estimated there were 3,000 marchers although that seemed high from what I could see. There were only minor incidents - a bottle thrown from the parade at a Catholic house in the community, an inebriated resident of the community exchanging harsh words with one of the RUC, RUC provoking Catholic children and the children responding with taunts. I was posted at Drumcree Church for the first part of the night. The observation post of witnesses is high on a hill opposite the hill on which Drumcree Church stands. The large dip (or small valley) dividing these hills consists of large fields. A road runs down the hill from the Church and up the hill to where we were posted. This is the road the OO uses to begin its triumphalistic march through the nearby Catholic neighborhood.

When they were prohibited by the Parades Commission last year from taking their march through the community, they set up a camp in the fields which was shown on US television for a week or so. Although they allowed heavy drinking, threw explosives, and shot live rounds of fire, the RUC and soldiers posted to hold them back did little to check the cars bringing supplies into their ranks. A trench and barbed wire were put up across the fields to hold them back -- and all other entrances to the community were sealed.

Effectively, this trapped the residents. The policing of the community, which behaved peacefully, was much harsher. The worst of the OO rioting ended, as you may recall, when paramilitary Protestants bombed the home of a mixed Protestant/Catholic marriage (something they abhor) and killed three children. Nevertheless, number of OO did not leave and the siege of Garvaghy Rd has continued all year. The residents have continued to say that the OO must sit down to have face-to-face talks with them in order for the residents to consider allowing any marches to take place. The OO refuses to talk.

This year, esp. in the face of ongoing OO and Unionist violence and threats, the Parades Commission has again banned the July 4 parade through Garvaghy Road. They also maintain that there must be dialogue between OO and residents. The trench below Drumcree Church is wider, deeper, longer, and filled with water. The barbed wire across the fields is deeper. A high metal wall with razor wire on top stands across the road between the two hills.

The community is visibly quite exhausted, but has organized as best as it has been able to try to avoid violence. Whether or not the Parades Commission decision continues in force, it is probably that there will be provocative violence and so every attempt is being made to prevent violent responses.

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