Tense standoff over loyalist march in Portadown as protesters block route

Sinn Féin leaders join those on streets opposing decision to allow Garvaghy Road parade for first time since 1998

• Portadown march: latest updates

Hundreds of protesters spent the day blocking the route of a hugely contentious parade in Northern Ireland after a court gave late-night clearance for the Orange Order to march on a historically significant road for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The loyalist Drumcree parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown was given the go ahead by the Parades Commission for the first time since 1998, a decision denounced as “madness” by Sinn Féin.