Republican First Minister Michelle O'Neill and other senior political figures, including Mary Lou McDonald and Matt Carthy, are facing up to six months in prison for leading an unlawful protest in Portadown. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has ordered the group to disperse using loudhailers, but the politicians and thousands of other demonstrators continue to block a route into a mainly Catholic and nationalist area.

The standoff follows a High Court decision allowing the Protestant Orange Order to conduct its Drumcree parade through the town for the first time in 28 years. This ruling reversed a Saturday injunction after an appeals court found the original judge had erred in law. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called for calm on all sides as the tension between unionists and nationalists threatens to escalate.