Drumcree Church Credit: Raymond Okonski [CC BY-SA 2.0]

The group includes local names such as the members of Kneecap, director Trevor Birney and actors Adrian Dunabr and Siobhán McSweeney in addition to international figures such as Susan Sarandon and Noel Gallagher. The group urge the Northern Ireland secretary to “exercise courageous political leadership” to “guide all sides toward a shared, peaceful future”.

The full letter is reproduced below.

We the undersigned are writing to you with a sense of profound urgency regarding the current impasse surrounding the Garvaghy Road parading dispute in Portadown.

Following the breakdown of recent talks at Hillsborough Castle, it has become increasingly evident that local mechanisms have exhausted their current utility and that a fresh, independent framework is required to prevent a deeper crisis. Therefore, we respectfully urge you to work in tandem with the Irish Government to appoint an independent international mediator from outside Ireland and Britain to facilitate a robust, durable resolution.

The current stand-off serves as a stark reminder of the fragile nature of our shared peace. We must collectively reflect on the extraordinary legacy of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which established the foundational principles of mutual respect, dialogue, and cross-community parity of esteem.

Over the last twenty-eight years, the hard-won peace in Northern Ireland has allowed an entire generation to grow up free from the anguish and violence of the past. To allow old wounds to be aggressively reopened risks destabilising community relations not only in Portadown but across society in the North.

Central to any just resolution must be the primacy and protection of the local community. The residents of the Garvaghy Road endured years of profound trauma, fear, and disruption during the height of the parading conflicts in the 1990s. After nearly three decades of hard-earned calm, it is entirely unacceptable that this community should face a return to that anxiety. It is paramount that the residents be robustly protected from any form of forced processions that disregard their consent, safety, and right to live in peace free from intimidation.

The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has already explicitly warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of attempting to force a contentious march through this community.

An international mediator — possessing a proven background in deeply rooted cultural conflicts and entirely unburdened by domestic political pressures — offers a viable path forward. Such an appointment would lower the political temperature, restore public confidence in the mediation framework, and protect the wider peace process from staring into an avoidable abyss.

We submit this appeal as individuals who have seen firsthand the immense benefit that the harmony of British-Irish relations brings to these islands, offering a powerful blueprint for what can be achieved through genuine partnership.

We cannot afford to step backward. We urge you to exercise courageous political leadership at this critical juncture by looking to the international community for a neutral arbiter who can guide all sides toward a shared, peaceful future.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and ongoing dedication to preserving stability in Northern Ireland. We look forward to your response.

Jim Sheridan, film director, screenwriter, and producer

Terry George, film director, screenwriter, and producer

Ken Loach, ilm director, screenwriter, and producer

Trevor Birney, film director, producer, and journalist

Don Letts, film director and disc jockey

Adrian Dunbar, actor

Susan Sarandon, actor

Maxine Peake, actor

Siobhán McSweeney, actor

Denise Gough, actor

Billy Howle, actor

Juliet Stevenson, actor

Tony Devlin, actor

Lisa Dwan, actor

Irvine Welsh, writer and screenwriter

Ronan Bennett, writer and screenwriter

Paul Laverty, writer and screenwriter

Jim Fitzpatrick, artist

Sara O’Neill, artist and fashion designer

Chris Sullivan, artist

Richard Corrigan, chef patron

Michael Mansfield, barrister

Eddie Dempsey, General Secretary of the RMT

Mick Lynch, former General Secretary of the RMT

Paul Weller (The Jam and The Style Council) singer and musician

Kevin Rowland (Dexys Midnight Runners) singer and musician

Sean Read (Dexys Midnight Runners) musician

Spider Stacy (The Pogues) singer and musician

Graham “Suggs” McPherson (Madness) singer and musician

Noel Gallagher (Oasis and Noel Gallgher’s High Flying Birds) singer and musician

Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Modest Mouse, the Cribs, The Pretenders, the The…) singer and musician

Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama and Shakespears Sister) singer

Paul Simonon (The Clash) musician

Imelda May, singer

Frances Black, singer and politician

Aoife Scott, singer

Davie Fury, singer and musician

Nadine Shah, singer

Mo Chara (Kneecap), rapper

Móglaí Bap (Kneecap), rapper

DJ Próvaí (Kneecap), rapper

Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack), musician

Neil Martin, musician and composer

Michael Timothy, musician and composer

Dan Lambert, music manager

Alan McGee, music industry executive

Jeff Barrett, music industry executive

Kevin Gamble, director of Féile an Phobail