Police Mount a Major Public Safety Operation at Drumcree
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a “major public safety operation” will continue in Portadown this weekend, and that it is “continuing to seek safe and peaceful compliance with the Parades Commission determination”. Its investigation into anyone suspected of breaking the law over the dispute is “continuing at pace”. Sir Chris Bryant urged calm, saying everyone in Northern Ireland wants a peaceful resolution.
With the talks collapsed and the residents’ legal challenge not heard until Monday, the weekend falls to the police alone. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force was doing “everything we can to maintain order and ensure the safety of everyone in that area”, and thanked officers from England and Scotland who have supported the operation for the past week — mutual aid on that scale is itself a measure of what is being prepared for. The phrase carrying the most weight is seeking “compliance with the determination”: the Parades Commission has cleared the march, so compliance means permitting it, and the Chief Constable has already warned that forcing it through “could be catastrophic”. The Orange Order’s Portadown district says it is “carefully assessing the position and considering its next steps over the coming days”, and no fresh parade has been notified. Thirteen councillors have meanwhile been reported to the standards commissioner over conduct surrounding the dispute. The DUP leader Gavin Robinson said there must be “consequences” for “people who are law makers who are acting as law breakers”, and expects the criminal investigation to begin next week. Watch whether anything is notified at all.