Orange Orderparade along Garvaghy Road halted after injuction granted
High Court grants injunction to stop Orange Order Drumcree paradeImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The parade (pictured above in 2018 on a 20th anniversary protest) has been halted due to a temporary inj...
High Court grants injunction to stop Orange Order Drumcree parade
Image source, Getty Images
The parade (pictured above in 2018 on a 20th anniversary protest) has been halted due to a temporary injunction being granted at the High Court in Belfast.
ByMichael Fitzpatrick and Catherine DoyleBBC News NI
Updated 1 hour ago
Belfast High Court has granted a temporary injunction stopping Sunday's Drumcree parade.
On Friday the Parades Commission announced that the Orange Order parade could proceed for the first time in almost 30 years with restrictions in place.
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition had mounted a legal challenge and also applied to the commission to stage a protest with 5,000 participants if the parade went ahead.
The development came after Portadown District Orange Lodge declined a request from Judge Patricia Smyth to postpone the parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road.
Judge Smyth, who has been hearing the legal challenge to the Parades Commission's decision, said the temporary injunction would apply until the judicial review application could be properly determined.
The judge said that would happen, as soon as possible, when the parties involved "can provide the information necessary to do justice to it".
A lawyer for the Orange Order member who was a respondent in the case indicated he intends to appeal the decision.
'Potential to escalate'
Delivering her decision, Judge Smyth said "the level of mistrust" between residents and the lodge cannot be "overstated."
"It is also clear to me that this particular long running dispute has the potential to escalate within Northern Ireland," she added.
"Against that backdrop I am thoroughly of the view the issues of all three parties must be properly ventilated."
Judge Smyth said if the parade were to proceed on Sunday under the determination approved by the Parades Commission there would simply be "no opportunity" for the applicant to have his case fairly considered.
Afterwards, Breandan Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, said "this isn't over yet".
He told supporters in a crowd of several hundred outside the High Court not to be "triumphalist".
But he added "we're halfway there".
Image source, PA Media
Breandan Mac Cionnaith outside the High Court on Saturday
'Trauma associated with Drumcree is very real'
Eóin Tennyson MLA, Alliance deputy leader, said that calm heads were needed.
"Following the High Court's intervention, it is important that everyone now takes a step back and responds responsibly," he said.
"The trauma and pain associated with Drumcree are very real. People want to move on with their lives, not refight the battles of the past or reopen old wounds."
SDLP Claire Hanna MP said that her party "stands in full support of the residents".
"Nobody should pretend this is as simple as 35 people walking down a road.
"Drumcree carries a history and a meaning that cannot be ignored.
"Insisting on passing through a community that has consistently and rightly opposed this parade returns us to the old territorial politics of provocation and domination that caused so much damage here.
"I welcome that the heat has been taken out of this difficult episode. Lighting the tinder is easy; putting the fire out is much harder."
'Step back from the abyss'
Earlier on Saturday Judge Smyth had given the parties involved a final opportunity to "reach an agreement" and "step back from the abyss".
Following an adjournment she requested that the lodge was contacted to find out whether it would be prepared to temporarily halt the parade to allow a full hearing to take place.
In response, the lodge submitted a two-page letter to the court and while the details were not read out, the judge indicated there was "no agreement" to delay the march.
Judge Smyth requested that lawyers for the individual Orangeman contact the rest of the lodge to seek their view.
The judge said the lodge should be informed of the issues the court is dealing with and asked whether they would agree not to proceed "for a matter of days" to allow for an informed judgment to be facilitated.
Adjourning the case for a third time on Saturday, Judge Smyth said "it is my view the issues at stake are so sensitive and so important, I would expect all of the lawyers to be creative and to use the law for the good of all the people in Northern Ireland."
Judge Smyth said the issue the court is dealing with is of "fundamental importance" to the entire society in Northern Ireland.
Reach agreement 'for the sake of everyone in Northern Ireland' - judge
Earlier the judge highlighted that the information provided to the court from the PSNI has "promoted further enquiries" and "further time would be of benefit to the court."
"In my view it would be contrary to justice and unwise to proceed to make a decision in the absence of information in relation to the issues I have identified."
She said the important date for the Orange Order was July 5 and therefore there "is no prejudice in adjourning for a short period to allow this case to be prepared by all parties ."
The judge said she believed it would be to the disadvantage of the Orange Order and the Parades Commission for the case to proceed today in the absence of all the relevant information.
"I urge parties again to reach agreement for the sake of everyone in Northern Ireland."
"Be big enough to step back from the abyss."
Counsel highlights 'significant change' in approach
Rather than start at 13:00 BST on Sunday as intended, the Parades Commission had said the march could depart no later than 08:00 and with 35 participants rather than the 60 the Orange Order requested. No bands or supporters are allowed.
On Saturday, a lawyer for the residents told the High Court it was unclear whether the Police Service of Northern Ireland's (PSNI) assessment referred to in the determination, was the "entirety" of what the police told the Parades Commission.
Their legal team has asked for the full PSNI assessment as well as past assessments in order to see whether there had been any changes.
Counsel for the residents said there had been a "significant change" in the Parades Commission's approach.
Before adjourning the proceedings, Judge Patricia Smyth told the parties involved she would like to hear from them on a way forward in the short amount of time that was available.
'Sense of shock'
According to the Drumcree Catholic Church parish website, external, Mass takes place at 08:30 on Sundays in the church of St John the Baptist on the Garvaghy Road.
When asked by BBC News NI if Mass time had been taken into consideration in their determination, the Parades Commission said commissioners "recognise that the timings set out in the determination" should allow the church service "to proceed as normal".
Image source, Catholic Communications Office archive
Archbishop Martin said his thoughts were with those affected by the situation
In a statement issued on Saturday afternoon, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, called for "prayers and support for a peaceful resolution to complex Garvaghy Road situation".
He said he shares the "sense of shock and disappointment of so many people at recent developments".
The archbishop added his thoughts were with those who this situation brings "back deeply traumatic and painful memories".
"I also appeal for support for the patient use of solely lawful and democratic processes to resolve this deeply complex and emotive situation."
'Orange Order will comply full with the law'
Nigel Dawson, Portadown District Master
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Portadown District Orange Order branch said while they were "not happy" with further restrictions to their parade, they would "comply fully with the law and 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," District Master Nigel Dawson said.
Image source, PA Media
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition pictured arriving to court with their legal team
In the Parade Commission's determination, which was published on Friday afternoon,, external it said it had received "various written and oral submissions" from organisers, residents, police, political parties, church representatives and others.
"This decision is not, and should not be perceived, as a victory for one side or a loss for another," the determination also stated.
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition lodged a judicial review after the commission gave the Orange Order permission to march on Garvaghy Road.
Image source, PA Media
The Parades Commission has determined that the parade can depart Drumcree Parish Church no later than 08:00 BST on Sunday
The five-person commission, led by Prof Evelyn Collins, held face-to-face talks with the Orange Order earlier this week, and held a separate meeting with the residents' coalition.
Senior police officers were also consulted about the planned parade.
Within the 31-paragraph determination by the Parades Commission, details were revealed of conversations held with the PSNI.
The document stated: "The police made both written and oral submissions, indicating that they, at the time of making them, had no information indicating that the parade would result in disorder or violence."
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it had activated "mutual aid arrangements to support contingency planning for a policing operation" in Portadown on Sunday.
It is understood about 200 officers are coming from Scotland.
Image source, Pacemaker Press
Unionist representative Jamie Bryson and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) members Carla Lockhart MP, Diane Dodds MLA and Alderman Dean McCullough pictured arriving to court on Saturday morning
On Friday, DUP MP Carla Lockhart said residents have "nothing to fear" and asked them not to get "caught up in hysteria".
"Thirty-five men walking down a road silently with no bands in an orderly fashion.
"These men work, live and do business in this community," she added.
She said Sinn Féin should "show political leadership and ensure calm remains across the community".
Drumcree Then and Now: Part 2
The State of Us
The Parades Commission has given the Garvaghy Road march the go ahead after 28 years. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey explore the arguments that tipped the scale.
However Sinn Féin President Mary-Lou McDonald said the decision to allow the parade was "utterly reckless" adding that it shows a "complete disregard" for the rights of the community of the Garvaghy road.
"This is a grave situation, recklessness of this scale of course has implications and consequences," she said.
She called for anyone that can intervene, including the prime minister and taoiseach, to "put this right".
When did the Drumcree dispute begin?
Image source, Getty Images
British soldiers erect a security fence at Drumcree Church in July 2002
The Parades Commission has been in the political spotlight since its previous Drumcree determination was quashed in the High Court in August.
A review of the commission has since been ordered by the Northern Ireland Office.
The Drumcree parade dispute began in the mid-1990s and it almost derailed the peace process at the time.
Violence related to the dispute resulted in riots, roadblocks and murders.
When the Orange Order was prevented by police from walking down the route in July 1995 there was a tense stand-off. It was the same for the next three years.
The Parades Commission began operating in 1998 to regulate parades and try to defuse tension around marches.
Its decision not to allow a march down the Garvaghy Road that summer has been challenged by the order over the past three decades.