A Belfast High Court judge has ruled that the Northern Ireland Secretary's decision to ban the Drumcree Orange Order parade along Garvaghy Road in Portadown was lawful. Mr Justice Scoffield delivered the judgment on Wednesday, rejecting a legal challenge brought by a member of the Orange Order against the intervention by Sir Chris Bryant and the role of the police chief constable.

Why the minister stepped in

The dispute began when the Parades Commission allowed the parade to complete its traditional route along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years. Large crowds gathered in opposition, and Orangemen remained on Drumcree Hill for nearly two weeks, repeatedly approaching the police line in an attempt to complete the march. Officers were left standing between the two sides, and police assessed that they could not safely escort the parade while the crowds remained.

What the judge decided

Sir Chris Bryant stepped in on 9 October, banning the route after talks with both sides failed to find an agreed resolution. His legal team argued he could have taken no other decision. The court also heard police intelligence suggesting dissidents could have attacked officers had a path been cleared for the parade.

The judge found the decision was lawful and within the discretion properly allowed to the minister, while calling it highly regrettable that such an intervention had been required. He said the impasse had gone on long enough and was draining police resources, and that there were lessons for all sides. The ruling closes the latest chapter in a dispute rooted in the serious disorder of the 1990s, though it does not settle the underlying argument over the route itself.

Sources: Reuters and Glasgow Times (PA report).