Rallies are being held in Portadown on both sides of the Drumcree parade dispute as the stand-off between Garvaghy Road residents and the Orange Order continues.
It comes after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a “major public safety operation” will continue in Portadown this weekend.
Speaking at an event on the Garvaghy Road, First Minister and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill said she heard the Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant “talk about being between a rock and a hard place”, adding she has “never heard such nonsense, this is between right and wrong”.
Speaking at Drumcree church, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart repeated calls for PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and his officers to “do their job” and facilitate the parade, describing the current impasse as “mob rule”.
The fallout over the proposed march – which is opposed by residents of the Garvaghy Road – has lasted since Sunday morning.
Huge crowds have turned up on the Garvaghy Road on Saturday to support local residents.
A smaller event is being held in the Edgarstown area in Portadown in support of the Orange Order.
O’Neill said that “if this British government isn’t prepared to end this crisis, then it’s up to the thousands here, to collectively stand with the Garvaghy Road residents”.
She said: “We will stand shoulder to shoulder for as long as it takes.”
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll told the event that “earlier this year they came for migrants, now they’re coming for the residents of the Garvaghy Road”.
Former SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly said: “Never again did we think we’d be on the Garvaghy Road again to say no going back and no Orange Order parades in the Garvaghy Road.”
