Policing the Drumcree Demonstrations in Northern Ireland: Testing Leadership Theory In Practice

At issue is an annual Church Parade by some 1200 members of the all Protestant Orange Order and two bands who insist on what they see as their inalienable civil right to march along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown despite the fact that the Catholic community who live there are overwhelmingly opposed to the passage of the march and believe it is their right not to have to endure it. While many Orangemen regard the Order as a religious and cultural institution, others cherish it as an instrument of supremacy for asserting domination over Catholics. (Ryder and Kearney, 2001: xvi).