High Court quashes decision to restrict annual Drumcree parade

A decision by the Parades Commission to impose restrictions on one of the most contentious parades in Northern Ireland has been quashed in the High Court.

It follows a legal challenge brought by a member of the Orange Order over its annual parade at Drumcree outside Portadown.

The commission had banned this year's parade from entering the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road - a move which reflected every decision it has made since 1998.

It has been claimed the case may pave the way for a future parade on the road being permitted. However, it would require a new decision based on a fresh application.

In 1998, the Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down Portadown's Garvaghy Road on the end leg of its annual march from Drumcree Church.

It was a move that ultimately led to a decades-long parading dispute, sparking some of the most serious public disorder in Northern Ireland's history.

Stand-offs continued in subsequent years as members of the Order walked to police barricades in protest at the restrictions. Protests were also held by residents living along the Garvaghy Road.

The legal challenge regarding July 2026's parade was launched last month.

The High Court was told on Tuesday that the commission conceded the case last week and requested the court quash its determination before a full hearing.

The commission conceded a procedural error in how it dealt with the annual application for permission to walk along the Garvaghy Road.

Not all six members of the public authority had signed off on the final determination before it was issued last month.

"I have no hesitation in making the quashing order," Mr Justice McAlinden said.

"This is simply a case that does not stand up to any scrutiny at all."

Lawyers representing the local Orangeman claimed the commission's latest decision unlawfully breached his rights to freedom of belief, expression and peaceful assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lawyers for the applicant also argued that Garvaghy Road residents had refused talks with the Orange Order and the commission breached legislation by making it "a pre-requisite to a parade".

It was also claimed the commission had imposed restrictions to prevent disorder when no evidence for potential trouble was presented.

Part of the challenge related to a WhatsApp chat group where commissioners were allegedly urged to reflect on any opinions about Drumcree expressed by an online commentator who used the pseudonym 'Choyaa'.

The commission also failed to act on a request to make representations from Carla Lockhart, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP for the area.

Commission members were also accused of failing to read or consider the decision.

Lockhart was in court, along with several other politicians, including the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) MP Jim Allister.

Counsel for the Orangeman who took the case, John Larkin KC, was critical of the commission's approach to proceedings.

Seeking an order for heavier indemnity costs to be made against the authority, the barrister accused some of its representatives of a "scandalous abdication of responsibilities".

Speaking outside the High Court on Tuesday, Allister said: "The whole commission should resign. Caught out they should bow out."

Lockhart said the decision was a "massive victory for unionism and loyalism".

She also called upon the commissioners to voluntarily resign.

"If they do not, there is a clear obligation on the secretary of state to remove them from office and I am writing to him today to ask this process is commenced immediately," Lockhart said.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant said it was "really important that the Parade's Commission carries the respect of all communities in Northern Ireland, otherwise it simply can't function".

Bryant said he had not read the "precise terms" of what has been said, but added that he was "concerned that it looks as if the Parades Commission have not got things right here".

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland welcomed Tuesday's High Court ruling and said it made "the position of the current commissioners untenable".

"We further call on the secretary of state to instigate a long overdue comprehensive examination of the commission's internal decision-making processes, which since its inception, have often lacked credibility, accountability and transparency."

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who was involved in bringing the case, said the applicant has secured a "seismic victory".

"This Parades Commission cannot stand. They stand condemned in the eyes of the law," Bryson said.