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Police Scotland told the Record they were at the scene on Sunday following a request for assistance from the PSNI.
Thousands of protesters block the predominantly nationalist Northern Ireland road in a bid to prevent a controversial Orange Order parade. The crowds were warned by the police, supported by Scottish police officers, that they could be arrested.
A ruling by the Parades Commission ruling body allowing the march of Drumcree Church along Garvaghy Road in Portadown was confirmed in an “unknown” late night session of the High Court in Belfast just a few hours earlier. The Drumcree Parade, which was linked to violent clashes during the Troubles, has been banned since 1998.
Protesters, many of them wearing balaclavas, gathered in large groups along the road in heavy rain on Sunday morning – a move that delayed the parade’s scheduled 8am start. Sinn Féin leaders were among those gathered on the street.
First Minister, and Sinn Féin vice-president, Michelle O’Neill said the Drumcree region dispute “calls into question how this whole peace process is working”. Party president Mary Lou McDonald called on Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant to intervene to ban the parade.
She said the people of Garvaghy Road “will not be dragged back to the past”. Ms McDonald said: “We spent all night here, talking to people all night, listening to people, trying to reassure people that this can actually be resolved, and it needs to be.
“So this has to happen now – the Secretary of State has to intervene, the head of the PSNI has to intervene and stop this.
“This is madness. This is actually primitive treatment of any community in 2026. It is unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated. The mood here was peaceful. It is united and orderly.
“This is a dignified and united community, and they are absolutely determined that they and I will not be dragged back into the past. That is the message of Garvaghy Road today.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said: “A First Minister’s duty is to uphold legal decisions, not raise opposition to them. The rule of law cannot apply only if Sinn Féin likes the result. Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for “calm on all sides” over the Orange Order parade, saying there had been “great gains made in Northern Ireland, and we don’t want to see things go backwards”. The police repeatedly informed the demonstrators over a loudspeaker on Sunday that they were liable to arrest for taking part in an unannounced parade.
It is understood that more people took to the streets in the belief that the police had sent reinforcements. Police Scotland previously told the Record they attended following a request for assistance from the PSNI.
The force said they “have benefited from mutual aid in the past and will do so again in the future, so it is very appropriate that we support other forces when asked to do so”. The group of Orangemen who took part in the parade wait at nearby Drumcree Church after gathering early on Sunday.
Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher appeals to “those with influence to encourage people to respect the law” because his officers detect all offenses throughout the day. He added: “It is incumbent on all of us to come together at times like this to do everything we can to preserve a peaceful Northern Ireland.”
The Irish government said it was “very concerned about the situation”. A government statement said: “Our primary concern remains to avoid a return to the divisions of the past, recalling the significant progress that has been made over many years to continue reconciliation under the Good Friday Agreement.”
The march was eventually given the lead at a hearing that ended at 2.15am on Sunday after opposing legal teams outlined their arguments about the controversial parade. The hearing was one of three separate emergency legal cases heard before the courts in Belfast over Saturday and early Sunday.
The final time-limited session, which began at 12.20pm on Sunday, was heard before Justice Michael Humphreys. During the proceedings he acknowledged the “unusual if not unprecedented circumstances as it is now 1.45am, with a parade scheduled to start in just over six hours’ time”.
Delivering his decision, Justice Humphreys cited jurisprudence that as a public body the courts must respect the judgment of the commission and “their decisions will not be easily disturbed”. He said: “The picture painted here is of a public body that took evidence from the relevant sources, weighed up the key issues that were at stake and arrived at a reasoned decision.
“Jurisdiction to (e) challenge the decision of the public body on this basis is necessarily limited to cases where no reasonable decision can reach that result and in my view, in this case that threshold has not been reached.”
He added: “This court cannot substitute its own opinion or someone else’s point of view for that of the commission.”
Earlier, Northern Ireland’s most senior judge, Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, also described the situation as “unprecedented” as she presided over the second challenge. Justices Keegan and Humphreys joined Lady Justice Denise McBride in the court, who in the late hours of Saturday upheld an appeal by Portadown Orangeman Alan Hynes to go ahead with the march.
That appeal was heard after a temporary injunction was issued in the first legal challenge on Saturday, which would have prevented Sunday’s parade from happening as planned. In that initial ruling, Justice Patricia Smyth blocked the Parades Commission’s decision, saying the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.
The stand-off at Drumcree made headlines in the 1990s, with nationalist residents of Garvaghy Road opposing the parade passing through the area, leading to violent clashes for several summers and political tensions requiring a major security operation. The Orange Order has unsuccessfully applied for more than a quarter of a century to complete its 1998 walk along its traditional route.
On Friday, the commission reversed its long-standing determination, to the cheers of unionist parties and the anger of nationalist and republican parties. Permission was granted for a parade subject to strict restrictions, including a limit of 35 participants and a starting time of 8 am.
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