27 September 2026
Speaking ahead of a meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP said:
"The situation on Garvaghy Road urgently needs to be de-escalated. I will be urging the Secretary of State to use every avenue available to him to stop this parade and take this dispute off the street and into a structured process of dialogue.
"What is being asked of each side is not equal. Residents live on this road. They work here, their children go to school here and they are entitled to go about their lives without disruption. Those seeking to parade can return to their homes when this is over; the people of Garvaghy Road will have to live with whatever consequences follow and already have deep scars from the violence when this was last forced through their community.
"The extraordinary courtroom drama of the past 48 hours should give nobody confidence that this situation is as straightforward as some have suggested. A High Court judge made clear that the concerns of all parties needed to be properly heard. Whatever the legal position, there remains an important distinction between what can legally happen and what should happen.
"The priority now must be de-escalation. Dialogue must replace stand-off, light must replace heat, and political leaders need to think carefully about their words and actions as we navigate the days ahead.
"The answer is not, and never has been, to collapse Stormont. Threatening the institutions at a moment like this is a dereliction of political responsibility. Leadership means being in the room and working through difficult problems, not walking out of it.
"I will be asking the Secretary of State to engage urgently with the Irish Government and others to establish a credible pathway back to dialogue.
"We also cannot ignore how we got here. The original Parades Commission determination was quashed following its acknowledgement of a procedural error, and the events since have exposed a serious loss of public confidence in the process.
"The Parades Commission owes residents an explanation and a credible way out of this situation. Responsibility for the framework within which the Commission operates ultimately rests with the Secretary of State. He now needs to act with urgency to restore confidence, facilitate dialogue and prevent this situation escalating any further."