British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appealed for calm in Northern Ireland after a controversial march was approved by the Belfast High Court, the Associated Press reported.
The march was approved during a late court hearing that ended at 2:15 a.m. today (04:15 Bulgarian time), the agency also notes.
Thousands of protesters wearing "balaclava" hats gathered to block the march of the Orange Order, a Protestant brotherhood that strongly supports Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom.
In the town of Portadown, where the march took place, many people are advocating for Northern Ireland to join to the Republic of Ireland. That is why a "counter-march" against the Orange Order was immediately called. Opponents of the Order lit fireworks near its members and were warned over a megaphone that they could be arrested for taking part in an unsanctioned counter-march.
Prime Minister Burnham appealed for "calm on all sides" during the march, stressing that "great progress has been made on the issue of Northern Ireland and must not be reversed".
The court ruling means that for the first time in 30 years the Orange Order has been allowed to march on "Garvagie" Street in Portadown.
The street became the scene of fierce clashes for several years before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended the bloodshed between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, which left 3,600 people dead, another 50,000 injured and thousands more homeless.
After the end of the conflict in Northern Ireland, also known as the Troubles, a balance had to be struck between the rival ethno-national groups that remained in the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland declared independence more than a century ago. Irish nationalists living in the north of the island, who are mostly Catholic, want unification with the Republic of Ireland, while Protestant unionists want to remain part of the United Kingdom.
Mary Lou McDonald, the chairwoman of the Sinn Féin party, which has historical ties to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), said that "the people of Garvagy Road" will not go back to the past.
"This is madness. This is basically a primitive attitude towards any community in 2026. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," she stressed.
Gavin Robinson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party - the largest political force in Northern Ireland, advocating for it to remain in the United Kingdom, accused Sinn Féin leaders of adding fuel to the fire. "The rule of law cannot be applied only when "Sinn Fein" likes the outcome. Our institutions are built on the principle of respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law," Robinson pointed out.