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    Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Kneecap, Paul Weller and more sign open letter in support of Garvaghy Road residents

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    Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Kneecap, Paul Weller and more sign open letter in support of Garvaghy Road residents

    Major names such as Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Kneecap and Paul Weller have come together to sign an open letter in support of the residents of Garvaghy Road in Belfast.

    The road in Portadown, County Armagh, has now entered its 11th day of a tense deadlock, following a decision being passed to allow the unionist Orange Order parade to march through the predominantly nationalist area.

    If it goes ahead, it will be the first time this has happened since 1998. For the past 28 years, the Parades Commission has persistently blocked the Orange Order from returning via the Garvaghy Road due to the history of severe violence, including an incident where three young brothers, aged nine, 10 and 11, were killed “when their home was attacked by an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) petrol bomb” (via the Irish Independent).

    Despite those restrictions being in place for nearly three decades now, a High Court decision has seen the regulations eased, allowing the Order permission to now take the route once again.

    It was decided that that route could be taken, provided only 35 members of the Orange Order participated, and it began at 8am rather than 1pm. In retaliation, many Garvaghy Road residents have spoken out against the decision and taken to the street with the hopes of overturning the decision.

    First Minister Michelle O’Neill also pushed for a reconsideration, asking Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant to intervene and claiming that it has given the residents in the area “no sleep in fear and anxiety”.

    There is an open letter addressed to Bryant circulating, too, calling for peace in the region and for an “independent international mediator from outside Ireland and Britain” to be appointed to help resolve the debate.

    “The residents of the Garvaghy Road endured years of profound trauma, fear, and disruption during the height of the parading conflicts in the 1990s,” it read. “After nearly three decades of hard-earned calm, it is entirely unacceptable that this community should face a return to that anxiety.”

    It also called the stand-off a “stark reminder of the fragile nature of our shared peace”, and urged Bryant to “exercise courageous political leadership at this critical juncture by looking to the international community for a neutral arbiter who can guide all sides toward a shared, peaceful future.”

    So far, huge names including Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Johnny Marr have all signed the letter, as have Kneecap, Nadine Shah, Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, Madness frontman Suggs, and Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ Kevin Rowland.

    Actors including Susan Sarandon, Maxine Peake, Ken Loach and Adrian Dunbar have also signed, as have Pixies’ Frances Black, Imelda May, The Clash’s Paul Simonon, and Spider Stacey

    “It is paramount that the residents be robustly protected from any form of forced processions that disregard their consent, safety, and right to live in peace free from intimidation,” the letter continued.

    “We submit this appeal as individuals who have seen firsthand the immense benefit that the harmony of British-Irish relations brings to these islands, offering a powerful blueprint for what can be achieved through genuine partnership.”

    Read the original article here

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