People Before Profit members from across the country are in Portadown tonight in solidarity with the residents of Garvaghy Road as an appeal on the High Court decision is being heard in Belfast.
Gerry Carroll MLA, who is currently at Drumcree Community Centre and met with the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition on Monday, said: “Political unionism is in deep crisis, wracked by scandal and unable to offer anything to workers. In this crisis, they have chosen to stoke the fires of sectarian division by pushing the plan for this march forward. We will not let them drag us back to the dark days of sectarian violence and division. I will continue to support the residents and stand against any attempt to whip up hatred again.”
Speaking from the Drumcree Community Centre, Paul Murphy TD said: “Last week in Leinster House, myself and Richard Boyd Barrett met with residents on Garvaghy Road. We heard heartbreaking stories from the 1990s - a horrific, dark period where 21 members of the community were the victims of sectarian killings as the Orange Order fought to force an unwanted march down the Garvaghy Road. We made a commitment to stand with them and we will maintain that commitment as long as we have to.”
Aamor Crofts, a local resident and People Before Profit member, who was raised in England in the immediate aftermath of the marches, said: “I wasn't born when the Orange Order last attempted to march down our road but my life has been shaped by the trauma of that time. My family moved to England to escape the viciously sectarian climate around the marches. My aunt went to school with Robert Hamill, a young man kicked to death by loyalists in the midst of the marches. My entire family has been affected in one way or another. We returned to a very different Ireland, after 28 years of relative peace in Portadown and we could never have imagined this happening or old wounds reopening like they have these past few weeks. This is why we are so determined to stand up and stop these marches and it is why we are calling on others to join us in solidarity.”
Councillor Conor Reddy, also in Drumcree said: “The Garvaghy Road is seared into the memories of people across Ireland because of the horrific violence and sectarian killings that surrounded attempts to force these marches through the community, most horrifically the murder of the three Quinn children, who were burned to death in their home. For 28 years residents here have been able to live without these marches being forced through their community. Nobody should be dragged back to those days. We stand completely with the Garvaghy Road residents, against sectarianism and against any attempt to reopen these wounds.”