A judicial review application seeking to stop an Orange Order parade from going ahead in Portadown on Sunday is being heard at the High Court in Belfast.
The Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition lodged the legal challenge after the Parades Commission on Friday granted permission for 35 Orange Order members to march along the mainly nationalist road in the Co Armagh town for the first time in almost 30 years.
The residents on Saturday said they would seek to find out in court if PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher “misled” the commission ahead of the ruling. Hundreds of people gathered outside the court to support the residents.
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, from the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, addressed the crowd, saying they were at court to “seek justice for our community in Portadown”.
Breandán Mac Cionnaith and the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition arriving at Belfast High Court on Saturday. Photograph: Mark Marlow/PA Wire
“All of this depends on the support that we have, not just here, the support that we have in Portadown as you are probably aware, over the last number of days, coming from all of the six counties, and coming from the 26 counties – Ireland’s behind us,” he said.
“Ireland’s standing for justice here.
“And for this to be a so-called ‘small, normal, little’ demonstration by the Orange Order, the Chief Constable is going to have to explain why he decided at the beginning of the week that he needed reinforcements from England.
“Did he mislead the Parades Commission?” he asked. “That’s what we are going to try and discover this morning.”
Also present in court on Saturday were DUP representatives Carla Lockhart, Jonathan Buckley and Diane Dodds, alongside a Portadown Orange District LOL 1 legal representative and loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.
Carla Lockhart of the DUP (left) with Jamie Bryson (centre) and Diane Dodds (right) outside the High Court in Belfast on Saturday. Photograph: Mark Marlow/PA Wire
Alongside Mac Cionnaith were Sinn Féin representatives John O’Dowd and Catherine Nelson, as well as SDLP leader Claire Hanna and MLA Justin McNulty.
Sunday’s Orange Order parade would mark the first time the organisation has walked the route since 1997, in what has historically been one of the most contentious parading disputes in the North.
The Drumcree parade dominated headlines in the 1990s when violent clashes and political tension necessitated a major security operation for several summers, as Garvaghy Road residents rejected the march passing through the community. A number of people were killed during tensions linked to the dispute.
The Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
In its ruling, the commission said it understands “the genuine hurt experienced by many residents of the Garvaghy Road”. It said the determination “is not, and should not, be perceived as a victory for one side or a loss for another”.
Mac Cionnaith on Friday said its determination had “set this community back 28 years”.
“There’s shock and complete and utter disappointment with the commission,” he said. “But that shock is slowly turning to anger. A fuse has been lit here that I don’t think anybody’s going to be able to put out.”
The Orange Order parade is due to depart from Drumcree Church at 8am on Sunday, under the commission’s restrictions. It will be a silent parade with no bands.
Members of the Orange Order’s Portadown lodge had originally applied for a 60-member parade beginning at 1pm.
No supporters are to accompany the parade or congregate along the route and it must disperse from Carleton Street Orange hall before 9.30am, the commission ruled.
About 200 police officers from Britain are to be deployed to Portadown under a “mutual aid” agreement, in what is expected to be a significant security operation. All PSNI leave has been cancelled.
The Portadown District of the Orange Order on Saturday said it would “comply fully” with the commission’s restrictions and called for “respect for the law” from “those who have been affected by this decision”.
“Portadown District LOL 1 welcomes the decision of the Parades Commission that the district will complete its 1998 parade home from Drumcree along its traditional route,” it said in a statement on social media.
“While we are not happy with the further restrictions that have been placed upon us, we will comply fully with the law and the determination.
“We now ask our community to do likewise. We would appeal to everyone to conduct themselves responsibly and peacefully, and not to do anything that could increase tensions within the community.”
In a statement, the Government said it is “very concerned” by the ruling, adding it is conscious of the “very difficult and traumatic history associated with parades on the Garvaghy Road”.
UK prime minister Andy Burnham appealed for leaders to “work calmly” through the weekend. He said it was a matter that had been “independently determined” and it was not for him to cut across the commission.
Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long also urged those in leadership against sending a signal that there is no “justification for anything other than peaceful protest”.