The CGRP in the US ask our members friends and all fair minded people
to sign the support declaration in support of the Residence of Garvaghy
Road in Portadown who once again are looking foreward to another year
of fear and terror waiting for the annual display of hate and bigotry
from the Sectarian Orange Order and their allies in the British Controled
loyalist paramilitary gangs and not forgetting the RUC/PSNI British
paramilitary who besiege this community every year in their attempt to ram
their hatred down the throats of the Nationalist / Catholic cummunity.

Here are a few suggestions of what you can do to help the Garvaghy
Residences:

Sign the on-line declaration of support click on link below

http://www.garvaghyroad.org/Declaration%20of%20Support.htm

Phone, fax and e-mail Irish and British governments and International
organisations and send them a copy of the declaration of support

http://www.garvaghyroad.org/PhoneFax.htm

Please let these people know their plight is not forgotten!

Quote from: Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition Submission to the
Independent Review of Parades and Marches

"In no other democratic or western society would it be conceivable that
the forces of the state would force a march or parade by one ethnic,
political or religious group through that of another, especially one
organised by an association whose members are required to oppose the
religious and political beliefs of the resident community"

visit the website http://www.garvaghyroad.org/ and read of the
situation that these people have had to endure over the years and sent your
support.

below is a statement from the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition
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The marching season: A question of rights and wrongs

Members of the loyalist Orange Order have campaigned for the right to
parade through predominantly republican areas, for more than 200 years.
The marching season has been a source of conflict between Northern
Ireland's Protestant and Catholic communities.
Members of the Protestant Orange Order, who stage the vast majority of
the parades, insist it is part of their cultural heritage to march in
commemoration of key historical events.
Catholics argue that they should not have to endure the "triumphalist"
parades, mostly celebrating Protestant victories over Catholics,
through their neighbourhoods. The "marching season" is the period between
Easter Monday and the end of September, when more than 3,500 parades are
held throughout Northern Ireland. But the major flashpoints occur in
July and August, around the two most notable dates on the marching
calendar.

Tension at Drumcree

July 12 celebrates the victory of the forces of the Protestant English
king, William of Orange, over the Catholic king he deposed, James II,
at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, confirming the Protestant supremacy
in Ireland. The first Orange parade was held in 1796, a year after the
Loyal Orange Institution was formed, named after their hero William of
Orange.
August 12 is the Apprentice Boys Parade through Londonderry, marking
the relief of the siege of Derry in 1689, after the city gates were
locked against King James' forces by apprentice boys as a bid of "No
Surrender".

The Bogside

The organisation of Apprentice Boys was formed in the 1850s, and their
parade is held on the nearest Saturday to August 12, attracting
Protestants from all over Northern Ireland.
The parades have caused conflict throughout their history, but the key
political flashpoints in recent years have been Drumcree in Portadown,
Ormeau Road in Belfast, and the Bogside in Derry.
It was an Apprentice Boys parade in Derry in 1969 that led to the
mobilisation of British troops in Northern Ireland, after what became known
as "The Battle of the Bogside". The Apprentice Boys organisation was
established in the 1850s The Bogside is an exclusively nationalist and
Catholic area of Derry, overlooked by the traditional parade route around
the walls of the city. In 1969 a full-scale riot erupted when the
Apprentice Boys jeered and taunted Catholics at the Bogside. Rioting quickly
spread across other Catholic areas in Northern Ireland, continuing on a
wide scale for two days. Northern Ireland's then-prime minister James
Chichester-Clark asked the Labour government at the time to authorise
British troops to restore order on the streets.

Drumcree

As part of a long-term security operation the walls of the city were
blocked off and the Apprentice Boys were unable to use their normal
marching route between 1970 and 1994.
There were serious disturbances in 1995 when the traditional parade
returned. The same year, another parade became the main focus of attention
-- the Drumcree Parade along the Garvaghy Road, a predominantly
nationalist area of Portadown. It has become a major flashpoint, triggering
serious disturbances across Northern Ireland every year since. And it has
brought the issue of parades in Northern Ireland to the forefront of
the political agenda. In 1995, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Northern Ireland's police force, prevented the Portadown District Orange
Lodge from marching along the Garvaghy Road on its return journey from a
service in Drumcree Parish Church.

Triumphant

Orangemen refused to be dispersed or re-routed, and a two-day standoff
began before police finally conceded and allowed marchers, led by the
Rev. Ian Paisley and David Trimble, to walk through, but without any
bands. Nationalist protestors stood aside but were infuriated when Paisley
and Trimble, at the end of the march, held their arms in the air in
what appeared to be a gesture of triumph. The whole affair caused serious
rioting throughout Northern Ireland, which resulted in loss of life and
a breakdown of community relations. The disturbances were repeated in
the following year, when a four-day standoff occurred, with a crowd of
up to 10,000 gathered outside police barricades.

Widespread rioting

A loyalist protester throws a rock at police lines during 1997 Drumcree
rioting
The police eventually capitulated and allowed 1,200 Portadown Orangemen
to march down the Garvaghy Road, and the "U-Turn" decision caused a
huge outcry from the nationalist community.
In 1997, a decision was taken to allow the parade along Garvaghy Road,
again sparking widespread rioting.
By 1998 the Parades Commission was in place and was legally responsible
for deciding whether contentious parades should be banned, re-routed,
or allowed to proceed.
The Commission decided to re-route the parade, but the Orange Order
announced it would attempt to march its "traditional" route.
The British Army built a large barricade on the road that links
Garvaghy Road with Drumcree Church, and dug a trench lined with barbed wire
through surrounding fields. A standoff began, violence flared across
Northern Ireland, and a number of Catholic homes were petrol-bombed.

Security operation

On the morning of July 12, three young Catholic boys, aged 8, 9 and 10,
were burned to death when their home was firebombed.
The tragedy provoked widespread horror and condemnation, but the Orange
Order voted to continue its standoff at Drumcree Church, and a token
demonstration was held in Drumcree that lasted until the following July.
For the 1999 parade, the RUC again launched a major security operation.
A 15-foot steel barricade was erected, hundreds of feet of razor wire
put in place, and a field ploughed and filled with water.
This time the parade passed off relatively peacefully after six members
of the Portadown Lodge marched to the police barricade and delivered a
letter of protest. Ormeau Road in South Belfast has been a third main
area of contention. Tension heightened since February 1992 when the
loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) shot dead five Catholic men in a
betting shop on the Lower

Ormeau Road.

In the July parade that year, marchers chanted and jeered as they
passed the betting shop. The nationalist community were determined parades
should not pass through that area, and there have been several serious
clashes since.
It's even going to be bigger this year due to the Death Of Mick
McIlveen!

The Tension is beginning to rise!

GRRC