Belfast High Court has ruled that Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant acted lawfully when he banned the Drumcree Orange Order parade from marching along Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Mr Justice Scoffield gave the ruling on Wednesday 28 October, dismissing a judicial review brought by a member of the Orange Order that challenged the legality of the decision-making route, including the role of Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

A two-week stand-off ends in court

Bryant stepped in on 9 October after a tense two-week stand-off. The Parades Commission had given the green light for the parade to complete its traditional route along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years, but large crowds gathered in opposition and police assessed that officers could not safely escort the parade while the crowds remained. Orangemen stayed on Drumcree Hill for almost two weeks, making repeated attempts to complete the parade, before Bryant banned it after talks with both sides failed to find an agreed resolution. The court heard PSNI intelligence that dissidents may have mounted gun attacks on police had officers cleared a path for the parade.

Reactions and what happens next

The judge said the decision was lawful and within the margin of discretion properly afforded to the Secretary of State, although it was highly regrettable that it was required. He added that those opposed to the parade should take no particular joy in the outcome, and that the position reached had come at very significant cost to the people of Northern Ireland, financially, through the diversion of police resources and in terms of community relations. Boutcher welcomed the ruling, describing an exceptionally complex operation, while Taoiseach Micheál Martin called for community relations in Portadown to be rebuilt. The DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the outcome was not what his party would have wanted. The Portadown District Orange Order has signalled it will appeal, arguing the ban limited rights to peaceful assembly and free expression, and a police investigation into alleged breaches of the Parades Commission determination continues.

Sources: PA via Glasgow Times and Particle News.