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Orange Order member loses High Court challenge to Labour minister Chris Bryant's Drumcree parade ban, with an appeal likely

Drumcree Orangemen, backed by a crowd of thousands in Portadown on 24 October, face a Belfast High Court ruling today on the bid to overturn Sir Chris Bryant's ban on their Garvaghy Road parade.
Drumcree Orangemen, backed by a crowd of thousands in Portadown on 24 October, face a Belfast High Court ruling today on the bid to overturn Sir Chris Bryant's ban on their Garvaghy Road parade.

Belfast's High Court has dismissed the Orange Order's judicial review of Sir Chris Bryant's October 9 ban on the Drumcree parade completing its route along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Mr Justice Scoffield ruled Bryant acted within the law and "within the margin of discretion properly afforded to him", though called it "highly regrettable" the intervention was needed. A legal representative for the applicant said an appeal was "likely", meaning the 28-year flashpoint dispute is far from over.

The standoff ran for 13 days after the Parades Commission reversed a ban in place since 1998, costing the public purse at least £5.5 million in policing.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald are among those who have given voluntary police interviews over alleged breaches of the Parades Commission ruling.

The judge warned those who opposed the parade to 'take no particular joy' in the outcome, noting the Orange Order's legal right to walk the Garvaghy Road 'had been established'.

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