Northern Irish Court Halts Orange Order March Through Catholic Area
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Northern Irish Court Blocks Orange Order Parade on Garvaghy Road Pending Review
High Court Issues Temporary Injunction on Controversial Parade Route
By Amanda Ferguson
Background of the Parade Dispute
BELFAST, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Northern Ireland’s High Court granted a temporary injunction on Saturday stopping a Protestant parade from passing through a Catholic area on Sunday, following a challenge by residents to the overturning of an almost 30-year ban on the route.
Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission — set up to regulate marches during the province’s sectarian conflict — on Friday permitted the Orange Order to march along the Garvaghy Road, a Catholic enclave in the largely Protestant town of Portadown, during their annual Drumcree parade on Sunday.
Judicial Review and Legal Proceedings
But Judge Patricia Smyth granted the injunction on Saturday to offer a short period of interim relief until a judicial review on the commission’s decision is determined.
A lawyer representing a member of the Orange Order in the proceedings said he would appeal the decision to the Northern Irish Court of Appeal on Saturday night.
Historical Context and Previous Flashpoints
The original dispute over the route became one of the defining flashpoints of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Annual attempts by the Protestant Orange Order to march through the area triggered unrest across the British-run region before the route was banned in 1998, the same year the Good Friday Agreement largely ended the three decades of violence known as the “Troubles”.
Efforts to Find Resolution
Smyth had urged lawyers for residents and the Orange Order during the six-hour hearing on Saturday to “be big enough to step back from the abyss” and find a creative way forward “on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.”
In a letter presented to the court, the Orange Order said it could not agree as the court would not be able to guarantee a postponed parade would go ahead at another date even if the residents’ judicial review failed.
Commission’s Conditions and Recent Developments
The Parades Commission’s determination on Friday stipulated that a smaller-than-usual 35 people could take part in the march, that it should begin by 8 a.m. local time and finish by 9:30 a.m., and that no supporters or bands would be allowed.
The commission had initially maintained its ban, but that decision was quashed by the High Court in August over a procedural error.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, Writing by Padraic Halpin, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
