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High Court quashes decision to restrict annual Drumcree parade

Julian O'NeillCrime and justice correspondent, BBC News NI
News imagePacemaker A large procession of Orange Order members being blocked by police from walking down a road. Pacemaker
The Orange Order Drumcree march is turned away from going down the Garvaghy Road every year

The High Court has quashed a Parades Commission decision to impose restrictions on one of the most contentious parades in Northern Ireland.

It follows a legal challenge brought by a member of the Orange Order over its annual parade at Drumcree outside Portadown.

The commission had banned this year's paradefrom entering the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road - a move which reflected every decision it has made since 1998.

It has been claimed the case may pave the way for a future parade on the road being permitted. However, it would require a new decision based on a fresh application.

News imagePacemaker A group of Orange Order members standing at a fence in the middle of a road. Pacemaker
Orange Order members found their route down the Garvaghy Road blocked by steel girders and razor wire on 5 July 1998

In 1998, the Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down Portadown's Garvaghy Road on the end leg of its annual march from Drumcree Church.

It was a move that ultimately led to a decades-long parading dispute, sparking some of the most serious public disorder in Northern Ireland's history.

Stand-offs continued in subsequent years as members of the Order walked to police barricades in protest at the restrictions. Protests were also held by residents living along the Garvaghy Road.

The legal challenge regarding July 2026's paradewas launched last month.

The High Court was told on Tuesday that the commission conceded the case last week and requested the court quash its determination before a full hearing.

Lawyers for the applicant argued that Garvaghy Road residents had refused talks with the Orange Order and the commission breached legislation by making it "a pre-requisite to a parade".

It was also claimed the commission had imposed restrictions to prevent disorder when no evidence for potential trouble was presented.

The commission also failed to act on a request to make representations from Carla Lockhart, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP for the area.

Commission members were also accused of failing to read or consider the decision.

Lockhart was in court, along with several other politicians, including the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) MP Jim Allister.

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