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Daylight savings coming up. A difficult time of year for a lot of people. Keep on talking

The events of the last week have proven that the PC's ruling that there'd be "no disorder" if the parade went ahead is a load of nonsense. I'd be very surprised if any court upheld it.

Plus the application has expired and the jaffas will have to resubmit.

Some of the backwoodsmen in Portadown have been fantasising about the fenians being forcibly removed and violently arrested to facilitate the parade, but there doesn't seem to be enough appetite in the PSNI for the chaos that would flow from that. Seems like they've learned their lesson from the 1990s. They can dream about water cannon, plastic bullets, and live ammunition all they want. It's not going to happen.

As for the sanctimonious unionists hoping to see MON prosecuted for blocking the road, I couldn't see that going far. The ECHR is still in effect, Brexit or no Brexit, and it upholds the right to hold a spontaneous protest.

Bryson's about to realise that his mouth has been writing cheques that his brain can't cash. I'd love to say this will be the end of him and he's on his way back to political obscurity, but I suspect he's a bit of an unflushable. He'll probably have a crack at stirring the sh1t at some other flashpoint like the Lower Ormeau Rd.

No need for the equestrian jokes; plenty of legitimate criticisms of Lockhart are available.

She's probably trying to pull a Trimble. Make a name for herself at Drumcree and spend the accrued political capital going for party leadership.

The four lads pay their individual taxes in Ireland. U2 is a commercial enterprise. They were well within their rights to move the tax base to Holland after the Irish government capped the artist tax exemption at €250,000 since U2 make a lot more than that. The Rolling Stones also file their taxes in Holland. Other artists that have done so include ABBA, AC/DC, Metallica, Eurythmics, David Bowie, Julio Iglesias, Robert Palmer, and Plácido Domingo.

In the 2000s, the UN had set a target of 0.8% of GNP for governments to spend on foreign aid. The Irish government was falling short of this.

Bono/U2 did not "raid the pension fund of Forbes magazine." Elevation Partners, a private equity firm co-founded by Bono, took a minority stake in Forbes. Afterwards, the magazine's management froze the plan by stopping future benefits from accruing, but preserved the benefits already earned. Forbes was a print magazine, a sector that has struggled a lot in the digital age. Restructuring pensions like that is standard cost-cutting practice and is not an illegal pension "raid."

As for "malware," I don't think that word means what you think it means. Giving away free music is many things but it's not "malware."

Have AC/DC repeatedly criticised the Australian government for not spending enough on x in a recession after depleating the tax base by moving their money offshore?

He preaches social justice then behaves like a brutal businessman. It might be technically legal to raid a pension fund or offshore your assets for tax, but it opens you to accusations of hypocrisy.

He did not "raid the pension fund."

The Jaffas' sudden support for the rule of law is about as convincing as their claim to be a harmless cultural institution.

Yes. Who's next?

I love this thread.

I know you usually can't read too much into crowd sizes, but they say it was 3,700 on the Garvaghy Rd and about 200 at Edgarstown. And some of the ones at Garvaghy were Protestant speakers asking for the whole thing to be put to bed and moved on from, saying the residents should be left alone.

This is now third story on NI news. Writing on the wall for Jamie.

OO missed an opportunity to come out of this with dignity in tact.

It was #4 on BBC World News the other day. Probably dropped off the radar completely by now. Will have a look tomorrow.

There's probably an element of them enjoying the international attention. That's another disincentive to get it resolved.

Jesus they love an oul march. Not being disrespecting of their culture I genuinely can't understand it. Once or twice a year maybe but jees there has to be some saddos at it every other week.

What you do this weekend, go watch the soccer? No I walked down a road playing me flute. Again. Twas class

Don't be fooled by Orangeism. It's not what it once was. They come out in big numbers for the 12th and some of the other big parades but the day to day, week to week stuff, half them don't bother their holes with the lodge meetings.

The bands are going strong but it's still a similar story there - they all love the 12th and the build up to that, but half them are crying out for new members half the year because so many of their members only commit to the big days out.

Sounds about right. They parade up our road (where I'm from, a mixed area) every year. Our ones have always just passed no remarks and let them tear away. The parade has dwindled and got smaller each year.

In his case it's obvious. He's just a self-evident gobshite. No comparison.

As soon as I saw that convoy of PSNI Land Rovers heading for Portadown I was immediately reminded of that bogus Stormont raid of 2002. Somebody in the PSNI stirring it.

My impression of why this has all blown up:

1 - Donaldson getting sentenced, Brexit backfiring with the Irish Sea border, rumblings of a border poll, and the drumbeat for Irish unity getting louder. Unionism under pressure and feeling like they're getting outmaneouvred at every turn.

2 - Jamie lost-more-cases-than-Heathrow Bryson becoming more familiar with the legal system

3 - Some shit-stirrer in the PSNI spots a weakness - the requirement for a parade to be "likely to cause violence" or words to that effect, in order for the Parades Commission to rule against it. What if we just quietly pull that little fuse and see what happens?

4 - Parades Commission gets its statement from the PSNI that violence is unlikely, and in following its own procedures has to allow the parade to go ahead.

5 - Legal ping-pong through courts and appelate courts results in the pro-Orange side getting its way.

6 - Both sides dug in and not budging. Orange insist the matter isn't settled, residents insist it is.

Do I have it right?

Free stater question here, is nr 4 the core cause of this shítstorm?

Seems like it's 3 that caused it, although I don't know if the PC was within its rights to take the cop statement into account and make its own decision to reroute the parade regardless.

Guess which side Ruth Dudley Edwards came down on?

https://www.ruthdudleyedwards.co.uk/2026/10/garvaghy-road-events-have-finally-made-me-too-ashamed-to-call-myself-irish/

Oh no!

Anyway...

Has the CC said yet how the PSNI got the parade difficultly assessment so wrong?

That seems to be the key to the whole thing. Who in the PSNI made the bogus assessment that there'd be no trouble if the parade proceeded? If the Chief Constable signed off on that then he needs to go.

I'm not sure if I ever understood what the hatred is apart from the usual Irish begrudgery.

Any thoughts on how he waited less than 24 hours to pontificate to the world about the October 7th attacks, then waited 3 years to comment on the susequent campaign of genocide in Gaza?

Did he even refer  to it as genocide?

He fudged it. Said it was a matter for international courts to decide. I'll give you that one.