Worried about Drumcree

[Dogdogdogdig]

I feel like an interloper here and apologies if this isnt in the right place.

im really worried about the decision over Drumcree and I can’t see it ending well today either way.

I have no time for Jamie Bryson or Carla Lockhart and it seems that tensions have been stoked on both sides.

My parents (and one set of grandparents) were a mixed marriage - my mum and dad moved to England in the 1960s, and my granny and grandpa moved back in the late 70s/80s once they retired. Im aware I don’t have enough if a real understanding, but I have enough to be worried.

again, im sorry if this is the wrong place or offensive.

Have heard that the mediator might be Bertie Ahern?

There is absolutely no way the OO would accept anyone from the south.

Bertie as a mediator 😂Be as well to have Dustin the Turkey as him.

Yes US senators have provided support to GR residents. I heard MON say it and commentators on the news.

a Protestant reverend has written an open letter that does not support the OO stance and has 500 signature from his community. The letter will remain open to more signatures.

Do they want peace, harmony and respect for each community? Do they want life to be peaceful and to get on with living without constant flare ups like this? If so, why not march together every year and enjoy the day out, mix together, show respect and realise that everyone is just hoping for a peaceful outcome.

If you don't agree to walk together well then, forget it, because it will never end will it?

I think each side is as bad as the other TBH. Neither side wants the other to be seen as the victor. So both should compromise and walk in peace together. Bury the hatchets for once and for all. But that coming together is looking highly unlikely.

Or get Bill Clinton back for another agreement. The GRHW the Garvaghy Road Harmony Walk. 😉

No they should not just march together that would never work and it would pander to the OO who have been told NO countless times over almost 30 years they are just throwing it back out there to try for intimidation again and the ONLY way this is going to end well is if they pack up their balls and fuck off down another road back to where they crawled from. Peace and living together apart was working till this shitshow was allowed by some numpty in power who never ever should have approved it. The OO need to get the fcuk out and stay there. Pandering to the old boys club needs to stop.

The OO will not go away, neither will the other side.

If OO is forced to retreat, there will be dire reactions from the usual motley crew.

Getting together and compromising is one way. Even if GRoad offered something like that, well then they would have right on their side if OO flatly refused.

The polarisation will have to be broken down at some point but after so many years it's not looking hopeful.

Who the heck in ROI would want to unite with all that awful baggage I wonder? Diehards maybe, but ordinary decent people want none of it on their doorsteps I'd imagine.

DUP "expects investigation to begin next week". As PSNI Head also said on Wednesday.

This is to look at the Garvaghy Rd. protestors breaking the law by preventing the OO march.

If the PSNI sides with the OO then I fear all bets are off. The PSNI may as well reform back into the RUC. I know that the law was broken but some laws are ignorant.

All that the OO & Loyalists want is to collapse Stormont, Direct Rule, no devolution, no GFA & no Power Sharing. And if Operation Motorman could be reinstated asap, why what a perfect way to end 2026.

High stakes now.

Yes, @celticnations in this case the law is an ass as they say.

@pelara How can the residents join in with the march while the meaning of the march is what it is?
That’s assuming they’d be welcome. I very much doubt that they would be.

Maybe that was the aim of sanctioning the march, to stoke tensions and put an end to United Ireland talks

There's 2500 orange marches a year. The alternate drumcree route also passes a nationalist area but just doesnt go along it. That is the compromise.

The Garvaghy residents have offered that but the OO refused. They offered 32 OO plus 32 catholic children wearing county GAA jerseys.

OO claimed they wouldn’t walk with anyone not a member.

The PSNI have already sided with the OO. Just look at the language the chief constable has used when referring to both sides: “gentlemen of a certain age” vs “mob rule” and “hostile”. That is only going to encourage the loyalist thugs to take things in to their own hands.

That offer was some years ago though, wasn’t it? It was rejected then by the OO and there’s no reason to think that’s changed now. Having 32 as the number was a bit provocative anyway imho.

Look, I know my musings/suggestions are somewhat unrealistic. But I think if compromise is offered by GRoad and OO flatly refuse, then it will show OO up for the intransigent supremacist mysoginistic group that it is.

We all know this is the case of course, but I suppose in my naivety I hoped that both sides would reach an accommodation. If it doesn't happen, and the offer by GRoad is very reasonable, then I'm done with the lot of them.

Sad times ahead maybe, but hope springs eternal.

I really hope that my conspiracy theory is incorrect, that the fires are being stoked (by the bizarre Parades Commission decision, and the PSNI stance) in order to detract from other stuff going on in NI, and of course the opening gambits in discussions about a UI.

I live in the Republic. I don't want a UI until all this is settled for good. No way.

It was definitely provocative😀

Disgusted to see the old both sides are as bad as each other mentioned here The Orange Order is all about triumphalism and supremacy, especially over Catholics. Why should they be allowed to march past Catholic homes when the only reason they do so is to feel superior and smug. There is a route back to their hall, similar length and distance from the church but no, that is not good enough.
It's been interesting that most of their own followers and supporters are not there to support them. More and more are speaking out against them. Meanwhile Garvaghy Road has become a Fleadh zone. The community have inundated with offers of support. They have said they have more than enough. Lots of volunteers helping out as well. Great community atmosphere with all working together.
.

Just people in a photo online. And a guy called Harry Stewart has a video out there. Very decent - and brave of them.

Yes I watched his video on either Fb or instagram can't remember. Harry Stewart is a devout Christian (Protestant) from the Shankill Road. I'd urge people to watch and listen to him.

This is the story about the open letter-
‘Everybody wants this to end’: Protestant group pushes UK government to end Drumcree standoff – The Irish Times

Pelara, I just can't go along with 'I think each side is as bad as the other TBH' in this case, .no more than I can with 'both sides' being 'toxic' when it comes to standing up for women's rights.

The Orange Order are not just any old marching band, their whole existence is down to anti-Catholicism, they are the very embodiment of 'Croppies Lie Down'.
They like to present themselves as just a bunch of ordinary folk out for a wee stroll coming home from Church sure where's the harm in that?

They don't walk, they march. 'They' are men in regalia which signals their anti-Catholicism - and in the context of the British in Ireland, 'anti-Catholic' means 'anti-Irish'. They march in military formation. They are intimidating. They instil fear. Their insistence on marching somewhere where they know they are not welcome, and where they haven't marched for nearly 3 decades, is an indicator of their trouble-making mindset.

There's 'All Sorts' supporting the Garvaghy Rd residents, I admit. I notice the BBC website chose a photo of two young men wearing balaclavas, one a Tri-colour one, as an illustration of the crowd, which was unfair. But yes, it's a mixed bunch. Some of them are fierce Republicans. Some of them are Protestants. Some may be Unionists. Some will be the usual lads out for a bit of aggro - probably the ones with the balaclavas! Some want to link it to the situation in the Middle East. Some of them are there to play music. Most seem to be just ordinary people who don't want years of peace to be jeopardised by OO trouble-making.

I don't see any similarity between the people on the Garvaghy Rd, and the Orange Order.