LONDON (AP) — The British government has blocked a contentious march from taking place in Northern Ireland after a two-week standoff between groups that support the region’s continued union with the United Kingdom and those who favor reunification with the Republic of Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Bryant intervened Friday night to ban the procession along Garvaghy Road in Portadown, saying it wasn’t possible to find a compromise between the union-supporting Orange Order and residents of the traditionally republican area through which it wanted to march.
“I’ve decided that it’s not in the public interest for it to proceed, and I’ve therefore banned the procession,” Bryant said.
The standoff grew out of the traditional marches held by unionist groups during the summer months to celebrate their Protestant roots and historic ties to the U.K. The marches have long caused tensions with the largely Catholic republican community, which says they are intentionally provocative and fuel conflict.
Tensions flared again this year after a court ruling seemingly paved the way for the Orange Order to march down Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years. Garvaghy Road was a notorious flash point between the republican and unionist communities in the years before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement largely ended the bloodshed in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.
When Orange Order members gathered for their planned march on Sept. 27, they were blocked by republican protesters, including First Minister Michelle O’Neill, the republican politician who leads Northern Ireland’s regional government.
The two sides have been locked in a stalemate ever since, raising concerns that the dispute could trigger a broader conflict in Northern Ireland.
Bryant said he held talks with both the Garvaghy Road residents and the Orange Order but had been unable to find a resolution.
“I heard the concerns of people on all sides and I only regret that we could not reach a compromise on a way forward and that many residents across Portadown have felt anxious and worried,” he said. “With this in mind, I call for all protests, rallies and demonstrations to be stood down. There is no excuse for a continued ratcheting up of tensions.”
FILE - The often barricaded Protestant church of Drumcree stands alone near the town of Portadown, Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999. (AP Photo/Adam Butler, File)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Police on Saturday said they detained 76 people across Poland and checked nearly 50,000 schools nationwide as part of efforts to prevent further violence following two school attacks earlier in the week.
On Friday, schools across Poland stepped up security, with some suspending classes, many parents keeping children at home and police patrols deployed to educational institutions after two attacks at schools earlier in the week left one person dead and several others wounded, including children.
On Wednesday, a 19-year-old student at a vocational school in the Mazovian province in central Poland attacked fellow students, teachers and passersby with a sharp object, injuring nine people before fleeing and being arrested nearby. The following day, a 15-year-old killed a school custodian and wounded two others in a knife attack at his former school in the same province.
The assaults, both carried out by Polish nationals, shocked a country where school violence by minors is a new phenomenon.
By Thursday night, rumours that the attacks were coordinated and that there would be more on the culmination day dubbed “bloody Friday” were being shared in parents' online groups and by mainstream media.
59 schools preemptively suspended classes on Friday across Poland, the majority in the Mazovian district, where the capital Warsaw is located. School directors sent messages announcing stepped-up security measures including extra school staff placed at entrances and voluntary backpack checks.
“There will be no compromise here. The safety of the youth is the most important thing,” Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said.
Those detained on Friday include a 14-year-old boy from a central district of Warsaw who was found in possession of a knife with a concealed blade and 11 firecrackers, and a 16-year old from another Warsaw district who came to school with a butterfly knife in his backpack. Others had posted online photos of knives, threatened their peers or threatened school attacks.
So far, the government said, it had found no evidence that an internet challenge promoting school attacks was ongoing. There is also no official confirmation that the two attacks were linked; both perpetrators are in custody.
Parents across Poland are now having to catch up fast on how to speak to their kids about school violence. Authorities say extra security measures at schools will continue and crisis training will be organized. The liberal government also promised to renew efforts to pass a bill blocking harmful online content.
“If that juvenile attacker had streamed the crime online today, we would have been unable to block that content because we have not been given that legal tool,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
After wounding three adults in Thursday’s attack, the 15-year-old, who wore a camera to record his actions, was eventually overpowered by school director Krzysztof Ochmański. Ochmański later told reporters there was a moment when the boy seemed to realise the enormity of his actions and said he did not want to do this any more.
“Once I had established contact, he asked me for help,” Ochmański recounted. “It got to the point where he wanted a hug.”
A volunteer firefighter stands near the scene following an attack on the Vocational School Complex No. 4 in Ostroleka, Poland, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
A police officer and a volunteer firefighter look down the street near a cordoned-off area following an attack on the Vocational School Complex No. 4 in Ostroleka, Poland, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
