Poll finds narrow majority backs ban on Orange parade

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 28 Oct, 00:32 · Archive

A narrow majority of people in Northern Ireland support the Northern Ireland Secretary's decision to ban an Orange Order parade on the Garvaghy Road.

A poll by More In Common has found that 53 per cent of people in Northern Ireland believe Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant was right to ban the Drumcree parade on the Garvaghy Road. The online poll of 1,019 adults was conducted following Sir Chris's intervention on 9 October to block the first Orange Order parade along that route in almost 30 years.

The decision to ban the parade came after an almost two-week stand-off between Orange men and Garvaghy Road residents in Portadown. Large crowds of protesters opposed to the parade had gathered on the Garvaghy Road, and police decided they could not safely accommodate the procession.

Nationalist and Alliance voters overwhelmingly backed Sir Chris's decision: 91 per cent of Sinn Féin voters, 84 per cent of SDLP voters and 81 per cent of Alliance voters supported the ban. However, Protestants were divided, with 54 per cent believing the ban was wrong and 28 per cent that it was right. Among Protestants, more took no side in the dispute than backed the Orangemen.

A police investigation is currently under way into potential breaching of the Parades Commission determination, with First Minister Michelle O'Neill and a number of representatives from Sinn Féin and People Before Profit interviewed voluntarily.

How it is being reported

• Commission wrong to allow Drumcree parade, according to narrow majority in pollBelfast Telegraph · 28 Oct, 00:01
• Commission wrong to allow Drumcree parade, according to narrow majority in pollAmong Protestants, the poll found that more do not take a side in the Garvaghy Road dispute than back the Orangemen.Belfast Live · 28 Oct, 00:00

In this story: Sir Chris Bryant · Orange Order · Garvaghy Road · Drumcree · Portadown · Northern Ireland · Parades Commission · Michelle O'Neill

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