Image source, PA Media

• The matter was discussed by politicians in the assembly
• The PSNI said a "significant" policing presence remains in place on the Garvaghy Road
• Members of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition and members of the Portadown Orange Order met separately with the Secretary of State who says he is "exploring every option" for resolving the dispute
• Members of the Orange Order again walked to police lines in Portadown

Michael Fitzpatrick
at the Garvaghy Road/Drumcree Church

Several hundred people are continuing to gather on the Garvaghy Road mainly at its junction with the Drumcree Road.

Traffic is flowing freely on the road, but crowd numbers continue to grow as the day goes on/

The atmosphere appears to be relaxed, with people playing music and a marquee being erected serving tea, coffee and sandwiches at the roadside.

A police presence remains at Drumcree Church where a group of people have gathered, although there has been no attempt by the Orange Order to walk in the past hour.

Image source, Reuters

Michelle O'Neill has rejected comments by the assembly speaker who accused her of showing "contempt" for the house.

Edwin Poots made the comments after she did not show up to the assembly to answer an urgent oral question on the dispute.

"I don't agree with the speaker. I'm very confident in my role in supporting a community that's under siege," she said.

"I'm very confident and proud to stand with the community in Garvaghy, and I will continue to do so, and I think that's really, really important."

O'Neill says when she was asked to answer a question in the assembly in her capacity as first minister, but says "that was not the capacity in which I was on the Garvaghy Road".

"I was there to represent those people, I am the vice president of Sinn Féin.

O'Neill adds she put this to the speaker but claims the deputy first minister blocked her answer.

"I'm very confident in my role in supporting community that under siege," she continued. "I'm very confident and proud to stand with the community in Garvaghy and I will continue to do so."

Sinn Féin representatives are speaking at a press conference at Hillsborough Castle following a meeting with the secretary of state.

Party president, Mary Lou McDonald, says that "we remain concerned" for the community, that even though the march did not go ahead, they need to know they can "breathe easy again" and "that they don't have the threat of a march being forced through their neighbourhood".

BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme will hear the latest from reporters live on the Garvaghy Road and at Stormont.

You can listen to the programme by clicking the button at the top of the page.

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, a spokesperson for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition says that the march "should not go ahead" and that nobody from the residents group "disagreed with that fact".

He adds that there's no consent for an orange march through this community and the government needs to take that on board.

He says the people here are angry at the Orange Order, the UK government and the Parades Commission, adding that he believes the current stand-off could have been avoided if the Orange Order had "seen sense and taken an alternative route" 30 years ago.

"The Orange Order forget that they are already marching through an area where a lot of the people don't welcome their presence," he added.

Mac Cionnaith says they are "not putting conditions down at the minute", but that a mediator would have to be someone from outside the UK and Ireland with international experience of conflict resolution.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

Speaking after several meetings, Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant says he is still “exploring every option” to find a solution to the Drumcree dispute.

He is due to leave Hillsborough shortly after meeting Sinn Féin, and will head back to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool before returning to NI tomorrow afternoon.

He says Monday's talks had been “positive so far” and that there were many people acting “in good faith for a good outcome”.

“Through the mist maybe I can see what that might look like,” he adds.

Sir Chris said he believed in the rule of law and that it should be upheld in relation to the determination, but that he was focused on a solution where everyone could “hold their head up high”.

A Sinn Féin delegation including Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald is expected at Hillsborough shortly to meet him.

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland says there are "major political questions" to be asked about the "illegal actions and subsequent repercussions" of a number of elected representatives.

In a statement, it says: "Disappointingly, nationalism and republicanism, including many individuals who hold key political offices, decided that the law is only to be adhered to and enforced when it is supporting their views.

"There is no shortage of evidence of illegality, and we therefore anticipate a swift response which holds lawbreakers to account for their actions."

It says it acknowledges "the difficult situation faced" by the PSNI and that it is "encouraging to see political Unionism speak collaboratively".

It adds that it remains in "regular communication" with the Portadown Orangemen and "will continue to offer support".

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

MLAs have returned to the chamber but the first minister is not there.

Sinn Féin chief whip Sinead Ennis reiterated that the first minister would not be attending the urgent question because it was "not a matter" for the executive office.

She accused the deputy first minister of "blocking" that information from getting to the speaker - something denied by Emma Little-Pengelly who accused the first minister of "running away from scrutiny".

The speaker has now moved on to other matters after saying it was clear O'Neill would not be coming to the chamber.

But before doing so, he said it was "unprecedented" for a minister not to come to a debate when the speaker has made that call.

Edwin Poots said he was prepared to accept further questions on the issue and if accepted on Tuesday, he "expects the first minister to be in attendance", as he cautioned all executive ministers not to show "contempt" to the assembly.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

The Speaker Edwin Poots has just suspended assembly business for 15 minutes, after First Minister Michelle O'Neill did not appear to face questions about her attendance at the Garvaghy Road protest.

The DUP's Philip Brett had been granted an urgent oral question to the executive office, which is jointly run by O'Neill and DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

Sinn Féin had said the issue was "not a matter" for the executive office as O'Neill had taken part in the protest in her political capacity as Sinn Féin vice-president.

Brett says "it is clear after breaking the law on Saturday she is on the run" as he asked the speaker to explore how she could be compelled to the chamber.

Poots responds that he was "responsible" for deciding when ministers should be held to account.

He adds: "It is a gross discourtesy to every member of the house from every party that when that has been established, and in the agenda, that the first minister decides she isn't going to attend the chamber to answer questions."

Michael Fitzpatrick
in Portadown

Around 20 members of the Portadown District Lodge have again walked to police lines where they have been stopped.

Deputy District Master Alistair Power asks the PSNI: "Is this still a live determination?"

In response, police told him: "Yes, it is."

Power asks police to provide another updated assessment on whether they can facilitate their parade.

The Orangemen are informed by police that "the assessment remains the same".

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, has left Hillsborough Castle after meeting with the secretary of state.

He says Sir Chris Bryant wants mediation and "we have absolutely no problem with mediation", but that the "community has no confidence in the Orange Order".

Mac Cionnaith says his question for the Orange Order is: "Why would you want to walk through an area which would cause... great annoyance to many people when you have an alternative route that is acceptable to everyone?"

He calls today an "exploratory meeting", but added "we're up for it if the mediation comes along and the right mediator is there".

Mark Simpson
Hillsborough Castle

Portadown Orange Order described hour-long talks with the Secretary of State at Hillsborough as “constructive” and “detailed”.

Asked afterwards if legally the Drumcree parade could still go ahead, Nigel Dawson said:

“I spoke to the Chief Constable this morning, shortly after 7 o’clock and the determination is still a live document.”

The PSNI says a "significant" policing presence remains in place on the Garvaghy Road today.

Earlier, the Portadown District Lodge called for resignations in the force over criticisms that police should have dispersed protesters to allow the parade to take place.

However, police say doing so would have jeopardised public safety and resulted in "inevitable" public disorder.

Image source, PA Media

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson acknowledged police were unable to facilitate a "permitted parade" due to "an unlawful and unnotified protest".

He added the operation was about striking a balance between "maintaining order whilst balancing the human rights of all parties".

He welcomed the absence of violence or disorder over the weekend but said "an evidence-gathering operation was in place and warnings were issued on multiple occasions" over the course of the weekend.

A "dedicated enquiry team" has been established, which Henderson said is "currently reviewing that evidence and anyone who has broken the law will be investigated".

He repeated the chief constable’s plea for all parties to "remain calm and peaceful".

Mark Simpson
at Hillsborough Castle

Breandán Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition and legal adviser Darragh Mackin have arrived at Hillsborough Castle to meet Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant.

Mac Cionnaith says the Orange Order should focus on a different route for its Drumcree parade.He said they should use their outward route to Drumcree Church as their return route, rather than the Garvaghy Road.He said an attempted parade by the Orange Order early this morning was “stunt” and had raised tensions.

Jayne McCormack
at Stormont

Not even 24 hours have passed since the secretary of state called on our political leaders to "double down on compromise".

What we have just watched and heard in the assembly's debating chamber was all double down, no compromise.

Tempers and emotions were flared - despite a warning from the Speaker Edwin Poots to mind their manners - with shouting across the packed benches.

Stormont is known for its theatrics with parties playing to their respective galleries and in recent months there have been plenty of fierce exchanges, but this has the potential to become something else.

However, all parties know that walking off the precipice of devolution is one thing - as recent history tells us, trying to get back up it doesn't happen quickly.

These are high-stakes moments and no one here today is quite sure where things will go next.

After the matter of the day had concluded, the first minister gave a statement to the chamber saying she was "incredibly proud" to be with the Garvaghy Road residents yesterday.

"They needed our support," she adds

She says the residents have come through "generations of sectarian domination".

She tells unionists in the chamber: "May I invite you into 2026, the days of unionist supremacy and domination are gone.

"We will not be going backwards."

The first minister asks: "Why" do the Orange Order, the DUP and unionists in general "want to railroad over the rights of" the people of the Garvaghy Road?

She adds "Why do you want to trample over these people?"

Independent Claire Sugden describes how she has been very critical of the Parades Commission in recent weeks.

She says that their failures in dealing with Drumcree have "ultimately led to this" and she believes those failures warrant resignations.

But, she says, "law and process matters".

"When a lawful determination is made, we do not simply disregard it because we do not like the outcome".

Back in the chamber, Robinson's party colleague and deputy first minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, says Michelle O'Neill abdicated her position of leadership when she stood with protesters yesterday.

"When the situation called for calm heads, Michelle O'Neill called people onto the streets, joined them and called for them to stay there."

Instead of upholding the law, says deputy first minister, O'Neill "broke the law and encouraged others to do so".

"She decided to follow the law of the mob and not the law of the land, and that matters", she says.

“It does not make anybody a second-class citizen to show a modicum of respect for those with a cultural tradition different to your own," adding the march doesn't threaten anybody.

She says there's not one rule for Michelle O'Neill and one rule for everyone else, and that the rule must apply equally.

Outside the chamber, the DUP leader Gavin Robinson held a press conference in Stormont's Great Hall saying his party has a "fundamental problem" with those who acted in "such an illegal way".

"It is clear that we have those in elected office who are content to give a two fingered salute to the Parades Commission, to the courts and their neighbours."

He said the Orange Order were denied their rights by the people who are "entrusted to uphold their rights".

Robinson also says what happened on Sunday will result in a "range of actions" including complaints to the standards commissioner.

The police will investigate and prosecute "anyone who has broken the law".