The Troubles in Portadown

In the 1970s and 1980s residents of the Obins Street area objected to the Orange marches, claiming they were triumphalist and arguing that they marked the Catholics as being second-class citizens in Northern Ireland.

[2][3] The Orange parade leading to Drumcree Parish Church of Ireland originally passed through Obins Street but was rerouted in the mid-1980s [4] through the then lesser populated but nearby area of Garvaghy Road.

[citation needed] A separate splinter group was later formed out of the Mid-Ulster UVF, called the Loyalist Volunteer Force, the leader of which was Billy Wright (known by the press as "King Rat"), who was resident in the Rectory Park Estate.

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) had been formed in 1996; due to the views held by Wright, his old counterparts in the UVF had placed a death threat on his head.

Loyalists ran a social club in the former Summerson's Cinema in Bridge Street for several years during the early part of the Troubles, before it was closed down by police.

[citation needed] Portadown had no regular military presence but maintained a small Territorial Army base at Charles Street (known as "Charlies Walls") which housed HQ Company of the 4th Battalion Royal Irish Rangers.

Although this did house small numbers of troops in the early part of the Troubles, the main military presence was from units based outside Portadown, such as Kitchen Hill Barracks in Lurgan.

With the formation of the 11th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment, a small barracks was built on the southern edge of town at Mahon Road ,on a greenfield site.

[citation needed] In November 2004, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy, announced the terms of reference for an investigation into these events.