Several thousand Protestant Orange Order members marched through Portadown in Co Armagh ahead of a ruling on a legal challenge to the government’s ban on a separate parade.<\/p>\n
The marchers, who included more than two dozen bands, walked through the town centre as supporters lined the streets.<\/p>\n
They stayed clear of the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road at the centre of the court dispute following a standoff.<\/p>\n
A High Court ruling is expected in Belfast next week after a two-day challenge brought by members of the Orange Order wrapped up Tuesday.<\/p>\n
They are contesting Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant’s decision to stop their earlier march from passing along Garvaghy Road after police warned of possible disorder.<\/p>\n
They are also challenging Northern Ireland police chief Jon Boutcher’s request that Mr Bryant reconsider the Parades Commission’s approval of that procession.<\/p>\n
Tension over the parade became a major sectarian flashpoint during the 1990s.<\/p>\n
The march last passed along the road in 1997 and was barred the following year, when the Good Friday Agreement largely ended three decades of conflict over British rule.<\/p>\n
The latest dispute began after the commission authorised 35 Orangemen to march silently along Garvaghy Road on 27 September without bands or supporters – the first approval for the route in 28 years.<\/p>\n
Thousands of local residents and supporters blocked the procession, triggering a nearly two-week standoff before Mr Bryant made his decision.<\/p>\n